The Minister of Civil Aviation P Ashok Gajapathi Raju has said that the Budget 2016-17 has paved the way for developing India as a Maintenance, Repair and Overhauling (MRO) hub of Asia. “The budget has made provisions for incentivising domestic value addition to help Make in India,” the minister told media on Wednesday. “Under this, the following provisions have been made for the MRO business in India : The tools and tool-kits used by the MRO have been exempted from Customs and Excise duty.
The exemption shall be given on the basis of documents certified by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Procedure for availment of exemption from customs and excise duty being simplified based on records and subject to actual user condition. Also restriction of one year for utilisation of duty free parts is being removed.
The notification on Standard Exchange Scheme has been revised to allow import of unserviceable parts by MROs for providing exchange / advance exchange. Foreign aircraft brought to India for MRO work will be allowed to stay up to 6 months or as extended by the DGCA. “The aircraft can carry passengers in the flights at the beginning and end of the stay period in India,” he explained.
The minister informed that the MRO business of Indian carriers is around Rs 5000 crore, 90% of which is currently spent outside India – in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE etc. Given our technology and skill base, the government is keen to develop India as an MRO hub in Asia, attracting business from foreign airlines while retaining the domestic business. The above budget provisions will go a long way in realizing this aim, he said.
Raju also welcomed the budget provisions aimed at reviving the unserved and under-served airports in the country for increasing regional connectivity. The Budget 2016 provides that the Central Government will partner with the State Governments to develop some of these airports and airstrips in the country.
Jaipur Airport rated world's best service giver, Lucknow 2ND best
AAI’s persistent efforts to improve the services and passenger facilities at its airports have placed AAI amongst the best service provider in the World. AAI’s four Airports are amongst the top five airports in the category of 2 to 5 million passengers per annum across the world.
Based on the results of the survey carried out by Airports Council International (a global non-profit organisation of Airport Operators) on Airport Service Quality (ASQ), AAI’s Jaipur Airport has been rated as world’s No.1 Airport in the category of 2 to 5 million passengers per annum and Lucknow Airport has been rated as world’s 2nd best airport in the same category.