Rise in aircraft acquisition to boost MRO sector: Industry body

Bengaluru, May 23:

The exponential rise in aircraft acquisition by domestic passenger carriers has the potential to boost the local maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry in India, the association for the sector has said.

The industry’s potential was revealed by Pulak Sen, secretary general of the MRO Association of India, who was speaking on Friday at the curtain raiser event for the first edition of international networking conference and exhibition– IndiaMRO.

According to Sen, the sector has a promising future as 1,200 new aircraft would be acquired by domestic airlines by 2020 and aviation equipment worth $20 billion will be bought by the Indian armed forces in the next five to seven years.

After highlighting the future potential, Sen elaborated the current status of the sector which shows a very different story altogether.

The association said that the domestic sector only amounts to one percent of the world MRO operations.

“Indian MRO industry today is only $800 million plus (Singapore industry is at $8 billion). However, it has not got the due recognition from the government. There are some regulatory and tax issues which have to be solved,” Sen pointed.

Lack of infrastructure, regulatory constraints, taxes and delayed customs clearance were blamed for the slow growth of the sector in India.

Many airlines from India have to get their aircraft fleet service in Singapore and Sri Lanka, as these countries have a moderate tax structure on MRO operations.

The international networking conference and exhibition on aviation MRO– IndiaMRO, through which the association wants to highlight the problems of the industry is being jointly organised by the MRO Association of India and CANEUS International along with others.

The event which is scheduled to be held between Dec 1-2, 2015 in Bengaluru aims to address the concerns of the industry and give an impetus to growth of the sector.

The event is expected to attract key stakeholders from around the world, including airlines, defence forces, policy makers, regulators, manufacturers, supply chain managers, legal experts, consultants, IT solution providers and training organisations.

“The IndiaMRO Aerospace and Defence will bring together major MRO clusters such as Seattle, Toulouse, Montreal, Sao Paulo, Singapore among others and address the top five issues facing the aviation industry worldwide,” said Milind Pimprikar, founder and chair of CANEUS International. (IANS)