Announcing measures to spice up the country’s domestic aviation sector, minister of finance Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said steps are going to be taken to form the country a hub for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of aircraft.
“Not just civil aircraft but defence aircraft also can enjoy the MRO if we make India an enormous hub … Maintenance cost for all airlines will come down which again will have a ripple effect on passengers. Travellers can probably pay less then ,” she said.
The announcement was made by Sitharaman as a part of the fourth tranche of stimulus measures to spice up the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
She also announced auctioning of six more airports on public-private partnership (PPP) basis and taking steps for better utilisation of Indian airspace.
A competitive Indian MRO industry would help local airlines reduce expenses on such works which are currently done mostly overseas. India was one among the fastest-growing aviation markets within the world and has high growth potential.
For MRO, Sitharaman said India has all the capacities, manpower and soft skills required.
“India are often the centre for several of the flights that attend South East Asia, Australia and westwards also… If we confirm , MRO ecosystem is made in India that the tax regime has already been altered in order that it favours fixing MROs in India.
“This may be a major step we wanted to form sure that India benefits from,” she noted.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the landmark systemic reforms will provide a lift to the country’s civil aviation sector.
These welcome steps benefit the air travellers and every one other stakeholders, he said during a tweet.
“Still further towards making of an #AtmaNirbharEconomy, major global engine manufacturers would found out engine repair facilities in India within the coming years. there’ll be convergence between defence sector & the civil MROs to make economies of scale,” he said.
According to him, the aircraft component repairs and airframe maintenance administered within the country will increase from Rs 800 crore to Rs 2,000 crore in three years.
