Airbus scouts for repair hub in Haryana

The Central Government’s recent decision to ease FDI norms to facilitate investment...

The Central Government’s recent decision to ease FDI norms to facilitate investment in aviation-related businesses will soon result in big investment in this sector. Boeing and Airbus are all geared to set up their Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) centres in India. Whereas Boeing is keen on a location near Nagpur, Airbus has evinced interest in Haryana.

State Aviation Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, who recently visited the Airbus manufacturing facility at Toulouse in France, said: “We had meetings with their representatives and they are very keen on starting their MRO facility in India. In fact, Airbus recently conducted a study which says India would need 1,100 aircraft at an estimated cost of $105 billion over the next 20 years. In view of such big airplane traffic, India surely needs some MRO facilities and Haryana offers an ideal location for them.”

MRO is a multi-billion dollar industry, which works for the upkeep of aeroplane fleets. Prominent aviation majors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Airbus, have their own MRO centres which ensure reliability and safety of their planes. The most prominent MRO centre is at Port Antonio in Texas, United States, with facilities spread over 1,900 acres.

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There is a 49 per cent cap on FDI in civil aviation in India. Earlier, this limit applied to all segments of air transport. But now it has been retained only for domestic passenger business while other functions, including MRO, have been kept beyond this limit.

Surjewala also claimed that the Haryana Government was pressing hard for getting a second international airport (after Chandigarh) in the state. When asked whether such a proposal didn’t run contrary to the agreement signed by GMR (the company associated with rebuilding the Delhi airport), which bars any other airport within a specified radius, he replied: “Well, if the Central Government is actively considering the idea of a new international airport at Noida, they shouldn’t have any objections to Haryana.” He said the Government had zeroed in on either Bahadurgarh or somewhere in Rohtak.

Why Haryana?

•Haryana’s suitability for this investment stems from its proximity to New Delhi

•One of India’s busiest airports, Delhi sees close to 500 landings daily (from 62 different airlines). As per estimates, this shall increase to 730 landings by 2010 and 1,000 by 2016

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• Airbus and Boeing’s increasing interest in India is also concomitant to shopping sprees of domestic players. Indian companies have finalised purchase orders of close to 500 aircraft, which will lead to an addition of 78,000 seats over the next five years