India is reportedly 'ready' to buy up to $80 billion in Boeing aircraft following trade deal with U.S.

New Delhi is ready to place orders worth up to $80 billion for Boeing

planes, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal reportedly said, signaling New Delhi’s willingness to expand trade with the U.S.

India’s demand for aircraft alone, with orders for Boeing “yet to be placed but ready,” is nearly $80 billion, Goyal said on Thursday, adding that if engines and other spare parts are added, imports from U.S. will “cross 100 billion dollars just [from] aircrafts.”

Families of passengers who died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad in June last year are suing Boeing, over the alleged role of defective dual switches in the disaster that saw 241 of the 242 the minister said on board lose their lives.

The minister also said that there was potential to procure a minimum of $500 billion worth of goods from the U.S. over the next five years, but clarified that there was no explicit investment commitment made as part of the trade deal with Washington.