India on Friday expressed disappointment and surprise over the United States aviation authorities' downgrading of India's safety ranking from top to second category.

Indian Minister for Civil Aviation, Ajit Singh, along with Directorate Geeneral of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Prabhat Kumar, told a press conference here that the decision was "disappointing" and "surprising".

India's aviation safety ratings have been downgraded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from the top to the second category, which would affect expansion of flights by Indian carriers to the United States.

The downgrade from Category I to II means that Indian aviation regulator does not meet the safety standards set by the UN agency, International Civil Aviation Organization, said Press Trust of India.

The FAA decision was made known to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on early Friday.

The FAA downgrade of India's safety rankings would effectively bar Air India and Jet Airways, two largest Indian air companies, from increasing flights to the United States from what they currently operate or have any new code-share relationships with any U.S. airline.

In a status report filed with its U.S. counterpart FAA last week, DGCA had said it had addressed the FAA's concerns over 33 aviation safety issues. The Indian government has approved a Civil Aviation Ministry proposal to allow DGCA to hire 75 experienced professional and technical hands directly from the market.

FAA conducted two rounds of aviation safety audits in September and December last year and asked DGCA to correct the deficiencies, according to the report. Endi

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