India's largest annual event on aviation and defence - Aero MRO India A&D 2022 concluded on 4th November in New Delhi. Organized by the MRO Association of India, the two-day conference and exhibition marked the completion of the Association’s 10th anniversary. The event hosted multiple conferences that saw participation of C-Suite Executives from the OEMs, Airlines, MRO industry and Government officials. The Hon’ble Minister of Civil Aviation - Jyotiraditya Scindia attended the event virtually and lauded the Association for its efforts towards bringing the industry together on such a grand scale. The Minister reiterated the Government’s commitment towards developing the sector and ensuring its growth.

“MRO industry is integral to the Civil Aviation industry in India. As Civil Aviation takes on new wings with unprecedented growth with huge potential in both domestic and international market, the MRO industry becomes an even more important cog in the wheel of the Civil Aviation sector’s development. Sensing and understanding this, not only have the fiscal incentives been revised by reducing the GST rates from 18 per cent to 5 per cent but also, we’ve permitted 100 per cent FDI into the sector. The new MRO policy, which I personally unveiled last year, ensures that land and other amenities are available to the MRO sector at the least available costs. I urge our MRO industry to think big, think global, act global and with this policy and thought, we are with you to develop the sector and to ensure your growth. The sector has a turnover of close to USD 2 billion but our work is limited to 15 to 20 per cent of the market today, which we need to ensure is fully tapped into,” says Jyotiraditya Scindia.

This year’s theme for Aero MRO India A&D 2022 was ‘India: An MRO Hub-Unlimited Opportunities’. Over the past two years, the Government of India under its Aatma Nirbhar Bharat mission has brought in a slew of reforms in the area of MRO which have opened up several opportunities for MRO players and OEMs from overseas. India is positioning itself strategically to attract investment from OEMs and large MRO service providers from across the globe.

“Today, we have a fleet capacity of almost 700 planes and to ensure the proliferation of this sector in the country, we are looking at growing the sector by almost 125 planes per year to create availability of almost 1500 planes over the next decade. India then becomes a flourishing market for the MRO industry not only from a domestic point of view but also from a regional point of view. Many majors are setting up shop in India and there are many domestic players that have tremendous potential for growth. Let’s pledge during this annual MRO event that we will grow this sector hand in hand. The Government and stakeholders all alike should come together with one purpose to be able to service the Civil Aviation market in India,” concludes Jyotiraditya Scindia.