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Australian businesses and researchers can play a key role in cutting India's carbon emissions, the prime minister says.

Climate, trade, security and cricket will be on the agenda as Anthony Albanese prepares to head to India for his first in-country innings to the nation as prime minister.

Mr Albanese will lead a business delegation of representatives from sectors including mining, energy, aviation, education and finance, as well as the trade and resources ministers, to discuss renewable energy and defence co-operation.

And he will find time to drop into the fourth Test in Ahmedabad as Australia tries to level the series against the home side.

One key area of discussion will be climate-related technology, with India setting the goal of 50 per cent renewable energy and 30 per cent electric vehicles by 2030.

"India's ambitious goals of 50 per cent renewables and 30 per cent electric vehicles by 2030 provide an opening for Australian manufacturing and resources," Mr Albanese said on Tuesday.

Value-added products such as batteries, storage and charging technology, solar panels, electrolysers and zero-carbon fertilisers would also be important for the Indian economy.

The prime minister said there was plenty of room to expand the relationship, given India was Australia's sixth largest goods and services trading partner.

"We have a rich friendship underpinned by shared democratic values, bonds between our people, and an affectionate but fierce sporting rivalry," he told parliament.

"What we need to do is to make sure that we continue to develop the relationship."

He said diversifying trade markets would make the Australian economy more resilient and secure.

Mr Albanese, who first travelled to India as a backpacker in 1991, will visit Mumbai, New Delhi and Ahmedabad.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said boosting the relationship with India was more important than ever.

He said India was an incredibly important trading partner with cultural and defence links with Australia.

"The diaspora community here, an integral part of modern Australia, (are) wonderful Australians," he told parliament.

"The Diwali events and others that we go to regularly just show how rich the culture is and the engagement of young people in the Indian community in those events is quite a remarkable sight."

Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the benefits in the areas of clean energy and education were "overwhelming", given India was set to become the most populous nation by 2024 and grow its economy by more than 50 per cent by 2026.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also welcomed the trip, with chief executive Andrew McKellar saying the delegation was a good opportunity to cement future trading opportunities.

"Increasing access to Indian markets will help Australian businesses diversify, bringing immense benefits to local industries through growing exports across sectors like education, agriculture and critical minerals," he said.

The region faces energy and food insecurity and a more assertive China.

Australian universities are looking to capitalise on the 500 million-strong student market expected by 2035.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson, who will travel to New Delhi, said India had emerged as a crucial partner for the tertiary education sector.

"This is a golden period in our education relationship with India. We must grasp it with both hands," she said.

© AAP 2023

Twenty-three seconds of silence may have contributed to a mid-air helicopter collision that killed four people and injured nine others near Sea World on the Gold Coast.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found no recordings of radio calls between pilots Ashley Jenkinson and Michael James in the moments before their choppers collided about 40m off the ground and crashed on January 2.

Mr James had been coming in to land with six passengers and Mr Jenkinson was taking off with seven people on board.

Being too low for air traffic control to guide them, the pair relied on radio calls and vision.

Mr James, who survived the crash, remembers seeing passengers boarding his late colleague's helicopter (XKQ) and thinking it would pass behind his aircraft.

"They (Mr James) did not recall the pilot of XKQ making a standard "taxiing" call announcing their intention to depart," the bureau's preliminary report said.

Two other helicopter pilots from the nearby Marina Mirage were also interviewed about radio communications.

One remembered hearing Mr James' inbound call but not Mr Jenkinson's outbound call, while the second Marina Mirage pilot didn't recall hearing either.

Bureau commissioner Angus Mitchell stressed that did not mean Mr Jenkinson did not make an outbound call.

"We do know that calls made down in low altitude are not routinely picked up by that recording, which is why we would not say that that call wasn't made," he told reporters.

"We just don't have any evidence at this stage."

Mr James also told investigators he did not see Mr Jenkinson's helicopter take off.

"While video footage taken by passengers in both helicopters on mobile phones contained images of the other helicopter, this does not mean the other helicopter was visible to either pilot," Mr Mitchell said.

Sea World Helicopters had fitted both aircraft with traffic collision avoidance systems.

However the systems hadn't been integrated and were only able to issue audio alerts. Mr James said he didn't hear any alert that afternoon.

Mr James' aircraft also wasn't transmitting secondary surveillance radar responses about its position and altitude at the time, with Sea World Helicopters aware of the problem.

"The aircraft was not able to be used in controlled airspace until it was rectified. Efforts to diagnose and address the transponder problem were ongoing," the bureau's report said.

"A review of all avionics and pilot assistance systems, and radar and surveillance information, is ongoing."

The ATSB will also probe the procedures and practices for the high volume of scenic flights scheduled that day.

Sea World Helicopters director John Orr-Campbell said the company is reviewing the findings of the report.

"The release of the ATSB interim report is another reminder of the tragic loss of life suffered that day,'' he said.

Mr Jenkinson, 40, and his passengers - British couple Ron and Diane Hughes, 65 and 57, and Sydney mother Vanessa Tadros, 36 - died when the helicopter crashed.

Ms Tadros' son Nicholas, 10, has been undergoing procedures in hospital since the accident and last week had his leg amputated from the knee.

Victorian mother Winnie de Silva, 33, and her nine-year-old son Leon are recovering from injuries.

Mr James landed his aircraft safely but he and two of his passengers were injured by flying glass from a shattered windscreen.

The injured were New Zealand women Elmarie Steenberg and Marle Swart, who had been on holiday with their husbands Riaan Steenberg and Edward Swart.

"All at Sea World Helicopters pay their deepest respect to Vanessa Tadros, Diane and Ron Hughes, our friend and late chief Sea World Helicopters pilot Ash Jenkinson, their families, and those who suffered physically and mentally in the accident,'' Mr Orr-Campbell said.

"Our special thoughts go to Winnie De Silva and her son Leon as well Nicholas Tadros ... and his father Simon who has been by his side all along."

A final report into the crash is not expected before September 2024.

© AAP 2023

Cheap rentals are rapidly disappearing from Australia's major capital cities as demand shifts back to urban centres.

Low-cost rentals disappeared from regional areas more quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic, but new PropTrack data shows inexpensive rental accommodation is now vanishing from the capitals at a faster rate.

The share of dwellings advertised on property site realestate.com.au across Australia's capital cities for less than $400 has sunk from 31.5 per cent in February 2022 to 14.6 per cent last month.

Across the regions, that share has fallen more modestly from 37.8 per cent in February to 25.9 per cent 12 months later.

PropTrack's Cameron Kusher said demand for rentals was outpacing supply, driving up weekly rents and keeping vacancy rates low.

"As a result, there has been a significant reduction in rentals available for less than $400 per week since the onset of the pandemic," he said.

Overall, the share of advertised rental listings on the property site below $400 a week has plummeted to its lowest level since late 2018.

The share has fallen from 32.8 per cent in February 2022 to 17.6 per cent 12 months later.

"The fall in the availability of more affordable rentals and the surging competition for rental stock is creating challenges for those on lower incomes or government support payments as they try to source increasingly scarce rental accommodation," Mr Kusher said.

He said demand for rentals was expected to rise and keep upwards pressure on prices.

A separate report released by CoreLogic reveals the gap between home ownership according to gender.

Home ownership tends to be higher for men than women, with men associated with 3.1 per cent more of the housing stock than women.

The discrepancy widens for investment properties, with men owning seven percentage points more of Australia's investment properties than women.

CoreLogic head of Australian research and report author Eliza Owen said were several factors holding back female home ownership, including that men, on average, earn more than women.

"In past reports, we have noted the role of the gender wage gap potentially contributing to women falling behind on asset accumulation, particularly where it may take women longer on average, to accumulate a deposit for a home," Ms Owen said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers told parliament the government recognised renters were "doing it tough" and there were not enough rental properties.

"The best way for us to deal with this is build more properties and that is what we intend to do," Dr Chalmers said.

He said labour shortages and rising building material costs were making it more difficult to bring on supply, but the government was seeking to drive investment through a new housing fund.

Greens spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said Labor's "dodgy plan" would see the social and affordable housing shortage worsen.

© AAP 2023