India late on Tuesday night announced its decision to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft with immediate effect in the backdrop of the crash of such a plane of the Ethiopian Airlines that killed all 157 people on board on Sunday.

"The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has taken the decision to ground the Boeing 737-MAX planes immediately. These planes will be grounded till appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations," the Ministry of Civil Aviation tweeted, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Copyright: Asia News Network

The decision not to allow airlines to use Boeing 737 Max 8 planes came a day after India's aviation regulator said it had tightened norms for pilots flying these aircraft and brought in additional "interim" safety requirements for ground engineers and crew for the aircraft.

SpiceJet and financially struggling Jet Airways are the only two domestic airlines which operate Boeing 737 Max 8 planes. SpiceJet has around 12 '737 Max 8' planes in its fleet, while Jet Airways has five.

India's decision to ground the planes came soon after European Aviation Safety Agency announced suspension of use of Boeing's narrow-bodied planes. Many European countries including Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Belgium and Norway on Tuesday joined a growing list number of other countries including Malaysia, Oman, Australia, Brazil and Singapore also joined China and Indonesia to ground Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.