Gratifying to see Indian companies’ competency, says Maillard
India needs a roadmap to boost manufacturing of the critical components for the global aerospace industry though it is open to partnering with the manufacturers of the world under ‘Make in India’ and be a critical partner of the supply chain of aerospace manufacturing, Sumita Dawra, Additional Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) informed an industry conference on 7 Jan 2021.
But India will need a roadmap to boost manufacturing of the critical components for the global aerospace industry, Dawra told the ‘Aero India 2021 – 13th Biennial International Exhibition & Conference on Making India Self Reliant in Aerospace Manufacturing’.
“India is open to partnering with the manufacturers of the world under ‘Make in India’ and be a critical partner of the supply chain of aerospace manufacturing,” Dawra said.
The DPIIT has also been working on creating a national single window system which is projected to be launched by mid-April 2021, which will be a convergence point for clearances for investors. “We have also put together and launched a GIS enabled land bank which is in public domain now,” she added.
The industry plays a key role in connecting Indians across remote corners of the country. “The Indian civil aviation industry has become one of the world’s most lucrative aviation markets. There are huge opportunities in the Indian aviation industry for investments. The world is focused on Indian aviation and business opportunities, from manufacturers, tourism boards to global businesses,” said Dawra.
“We have also undertaken an exercise to rate industrial parks of the country to facilitate investors in making their investment choices,” Dawra informed the conference attendees.
Nevertheless, it is gratifying to see Indian companies achieving laudable competency in all areas of aerospace manufacturing, added Remi Maillard, President & MD, Airbus India.
But he also felt that India needs to accelerate the transformation of the sector supported by regulatory changes.
“Making India Atmanirbhar in the aerospace manufacturing does not mean copy-pasting capabilities that are already existing elsewhere. We must leverage the country’s immense competencies and talent pool to leapfrog to the technologies of the future,” said Maillard, also the Chairman of FICCI Civil Aviation Committee.
“Ambition should be to enable India to take an active part in the development of the next generation,” he stressed.
India must be on manufacturing radar of every company, further stressed Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.
“The foreign manufactures will come in only when they get a reasonable size of the market and use India as a springboard for manufacturing and exports. Our dream should not be to make India the tenth largest in the world but among the top three choices that they (the foreign manufactures) have,” he said.
“There is a great deal of consciousness that we will no more be a nation of buyers and importers. Indians are sharp enough to absorb any technology and we are looking at a job-filled growth and not jobless growth,” underlined Dubey.
“The MRO is a fledgling industry, and we are working towards making it more vibrant and sustainable and to ensure that India emerges as the MRO hub of the region,” Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola added in his address to the conference. The aerospace industry ranges from R&D and design, manufacturing to Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO).
With fast expanding skies, most aircraft need to be sent abroad for maintenance and repair. “This is the lowest hanging fruit that needs to be plucked. We are working on certain reforms- the tax policies have been rationalised. As a result, our MROs are on a level playing field,” he told the conference.
Kharola pointed out that manufacturing that was thought to be an exclusive domain of the public sector, now has private players moving into India into the components manufacturing sector. This is a sector that needs to be strengthened further and this is the sector where the actual growth will come from. It can grow monumentally, he said.
Addressing the conference, Kharola said that it is now time to move from generics to specifics as far as aerospace manufacturing is concerned. Drones are an important part of the aerospace industry. “Our young entrepreneurs can capitalise on the various reforms being brought in by the government,” he said.
“We have a large defence requirement- the defence offset policy wherein a favourable environment has been created for investments to be made in India and this requirement will only increase. “We need to sit together with stakeholders and identify opportunities to get the required synergy to sustain the aerospace sector,” he noted.
The Secretary called on the state governments to play an important role in aerospace components manufacturing. State policies on investment, taxation, and labour attract manufacturing units from all over the country. #manufacturing #aviation #investment #makeinindia #technology /fiinews.com
