By Aditi Shah
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Boeing Co <BA.N> raised its Indian aircraft order forecast to a record, predicting the nation's carriers would order up to 2,300 new planes worth $320 billion (253 billion pounds) over the next 20 years.
The U.S. planemaker's estimate for the period to 2037 is about 9.5 percent higher than its previous prediction of 2,100 jets until 2036 made last year.
India is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets, with domestic passenger traffic growing at around 20 percent in recent years, and Boeing expects it to become the third-largest commercial aviation market by the early 2020s.
High oil prices, hefty fuel taxes and a weak rupee have hurt airlines' profitability this year, although pressure is starting to ease as oil prices fall and the currency firms.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
