Business Scope For Civil MRO In India

It is expected that approximately 10,000 aircraft would be in service in the region by 2035, creating an opportunity for the major MRO players in the region

- Sukhchain Singh

INDIA, WITH ITS GROWING aircraft fleet size, strategic location, rich pool of engineering expertise and lower labour cost, has a huge potential to be the global Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hub on a long-time horizon. The current market size of MRO is estimated at about $700-800 million which is expected to reach $1.2 billion by 2020. India has the potential to become the third largest aviation market by 2020 and the largest by 2030. The growth of the industry is being propelled by the development of airports, presence of several low-cost carriers, a liberalised FDI policy, increasing adoption of information technology and focus on improving regional connectivity. In the absence of quality infrastructure, airlines carry out maintenance outside India at the nearest available MRO location (South East Asia, Middle East or Europe) incurring a ferry flight, logistics costs and engine/component hours. There are about 40 overseas MRO providers approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct work on Indian registered aircraft in locations such as the UK, Germany, France, Jordan, UAE, Sri-Lanka, China and Singapore with 90 percent of an MRO work-scope going outside India.