India cruising ahead to become a global aviation powerhouse, says Ram Mohan Naidu

With thrust on removing import dependence, tax rationalisation and proactive policies and transparency in clearances, India is poised become a global aviation powerhouse, Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, declared here on Friday,

Addressing the 2nd CII International Conference and Exhibition on Aerospace Manufacturing with the theme "From components to competitiveness: Accelerating aerospace manufacturing and MRO in India", he said aviation is no more a luxury but a critical enabler of Viksit Bharat India under the dynamic stewardship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The conference, attended by experts from several global companies and government officials, was conducted with the support of Ministry of Civil Aviation and Society of Indian Defence Manufacturing (SIDM).The deliberations centred around filling capability gaps in strategic components, sub-systems and raw materials, industry–academia collaboration for workforce and research development, boosting R&D investment for innovation and global competitiveness, Andhra Pradesh’s Aerospace & MRO Vision: State Initiatives, building India’s aerospace supplier base and opportunities, challenges, and the way forward and industry partnerships.

Vizag MP M. Sri Bharat, Ministry of Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, Chairman, CII National Committee on Aerospace Manufacturing Salil Gupte, vice chair Vikram Rai, CII AP Chairman Murali Krishna Gannamanani and others spoke.

Rammohan Naidu said India has become a significant player in charting new frontiers with an aggressive approach to double the market value of the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) sector. It double to USD 4 billion by 2030. FDI cap in aerospace manufacturing has been raised to 100%.

The Minister announced that the first phase of Bhogapuram International Airport being developed near Visakhapatnam by GMR Group will be ready for commercial operations by June, 2026 with a MRO facility. He said the Government of India is trying to encourage airports in tier 2 and 3 cities and strengthen the ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and other States. He said Airbus, Lufthansa Technik, IndiGo and several players have come forward to invest in the MRO sector.

He said their thrust is on indigenous manufacturing of various components required for aerospace industry by giving a big boost to the MSME sector under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Mission and pointed out that the aerospace industry creates job opportunities, strengthens new technologies and expertise, propelling economic growth like India's success in space engineering and defence manufacturing.

"We have not only made rapid strides in cost-effective production but also our engineers and skilled manpower have proved their mettle by ensuring high quality of the products and services. This will certainly fetch rich dividends to India in positioning itself as one of the prominent players in the aerospace industry," he remarked.`

In the welcome address, Soma Banerjee, Deputy Director General, CII, with significant expansions, said the global aviation industry size is projected to increase from USD 880 billion in 2023 to USD 1.4 trillion by 2032 owing to phenomenal increase in air traffic, increase in fleet size with modernisation. The rising demand for MRO domain is also attributed due to the impressive growth in air connectivity and travellers.

She stated that India's aviation market is projected to increase from USD70 billion to USD100 billion by 2030.

She pointed out that 100% FDI aligned with cluster-based development is showing appreciable results in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and reiterated that under the long-term vision of the Ministry of Civil Aviation a slew of incentives and proactive measures are being offered for investment in various domains of aviation industry so as to position India as a significant global leader.

CII vice president and Co-Founder & Managing Director of Bharat Biotech International Ltd Suchitra K Ella said leveraging private participation is giving a big boost to skilling/up-skilling, fostering MSMEs and tie-ups between the industry and the academia for collaborative efforts.

Skilling gaps across aerospace manufacturing and MRO.