India to set up a special purpose vehicle to make its own aircraft

The ministry of civil aviation is in the process of setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to make the country’s first regional transport aircraft (RTA) in five years, according to Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu.

“We want to see a holistic growth of civil aviation in the country, not just in terms of passenger traffic. We want to see growth in manufacturing and one of the prime objectives when we talk about aircraft component manufacturing is to prepare, build and manufacture our own aircraft in the country which is RTA,” the Union minister said in the Rajya Sabha.

“One theme we are having right now is a short-term approach, a medium-term approach and a long-term approach. If you take an example of other countries, how they have done it. It has been a process which has been built up for 40 years and 50 years. Though we don’t want to see it taking that much time, we want to have a strict plan. One important thing is to improve aircraft manufacturing in the country itself. That is one of the short-term plans we have,” said Naidu.

In the last 10 years, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has been able to create so much demand in the country that big companies like Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Safran, Lockheed Martin, Rolls Royce, which are major manufacturers of engines and aircraft outside the country, they have set up shop here, said the Union minister. “Be in terms of procurement of key components or increasing the number of components that they procure from India or setting up MRO facilities in the country. We have done a lot to invite them into the country and set up shop which has increased the know-how and the technical expertise of the country,” he said.

The second process is to bring all necessary policies, he said. “If you look at Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam which we passed. We are no longer looking at India as only a player which is trying to buy things from outside but we are also looking at India as a country which offers design, manufactufring and maintenance of aircraft. We have changed the thought process. We are saying India is at a stage right now where we can design, manufacture and maintain an aircraft,” he explained.

The third sector we are planning is skilling, said the aviation minister. “We have set up FTOs (Flying Training Organisations). Through the skill development programme in the aircraft and aerospace manufacturing, we have identified 38 courses. In last 8 years, we have trained 18,000 people.”