Nagpur, Dec 8 (IANS): The Maharashtra government plans to announce its new aviation policy within three months which will pave the way for an entire helicopter manufacturing ecosystem in the state's second capital, Nagpur, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here on Friday.
"The aviation sector is a huge one and growing rapidly… Maharashtra should benefit from it," said Fadnavis, inaugurating the Airbus-Indamer's new helicopter Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hub here. Helicopters are deployed for different purposes like tourism, medical, law and order, etc, and Fadnavis said that "the day is not far away when helicopters will be manufactured from here".
Under authorisation from Airbus Helicopters, Indamer will provide MRO services for its helicopters at its facilities in Mumbai, New Delhi and Nagpur.
The hub was launched in MIHAM in the presence of Airbus Helicopters' Executive Vice-President Romain Trapp, Indamer Aviation Pvt. Ltd. Director Prajay Patel, Airbus India & South Asia President and MD Remi Maillard, and Head of Helicopters Sunny Guglani.
Fadnavis described the new MRO as 'a milestone for the aviation sector in Nagpur' and assured that the government will fulfil the dream to make the city an international cargo hub along with the ecosystem in the aviation field.
He said the Centre is taking various steps to promote the aviation sector like slashing the GST on MROs from 18 per cent to 5 per cent, attracting many companies to this sector, and of the 27 MROs operational in the country, many have set up bases in Maharashtra.
Trapp said that with Indamer, Airbus aims to cater to the growing helicopter fleet in India and exploit the future potential while introducing technical competencies that can help advance India's helicopter MRO ambitions, and today, every Airbus commercial aircraft or helicopter has critical parts or technologies designed, made and managed in India.
Patel said that the rotary-wing MRO was a strategic decade-old venture of Indamer to address the increasing demands of Indians for helicopters, and the tie-up with Airbus will help serve the domestic customers effectively.
The company presently has MROs for helicopters in Mumbai (at Juhu), Pune, Delhi and Nagpur, the latest MRO will provide faster turnaround for servicing for customers not only in India but also in the south Asia region.