Noida: The Noida international airport in Jewar will look to etch its place on the country’s aviation map as a major MRO hub, acronym for maintenance, repair and overhaul, after it crosses its first landmark of launching commercial operations by December 2024.
With the UP Cabinet passing the MRO policy on Tuesday, the decks have been cleared for concessionaire Zurich AG to develop the first of the two MROs planned on 40 acres of land.
On Wednesday, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) CEO Arun Vir Singh said Zurich AG is in talks with top companies to set up this MRO at the airport. The second and larger MRO will come up on 1,365 acres of land along with a runway and the facility could see a cluster of companies operate there, Singh added. The second MRO has a 2025 completion timeline.
Singh heads the UP government's special purpose vehicle for the airport, Noida International Airport Ltd (NIAL).
The two MROs, pegged at Rs 80,000 crore, are eventually expected to give employment to over 60,000 people and bring in investments of Rs 30,000 crore over the years, officials said. “There is an immense opportunity in this field in view of the upcoming Noida International Airport. Since the first phase of the airport is coming up over 1,334 hectares, it was compulsory to build an MRO facility simultaneously,” the YEIDA CEO told TOI.
The central government had in 2021 introduced an MRO policy that aims to turn India into a global hub for aircraft maintenance and overhaul, which now largely happens abroad. Indian carriers currently send their aircraft offshore for MRO, though some work has begun at the Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports, where the country’s only two smaller MROs are located, officials said.
Singh said India has over 650 commercial aircraft and this figure is expected to increase by 1,000 in the next four years.
“For now, aircraft are taken to Singapore, Dubai, Paris, Seattle and Colombo for major overhauls, and airlines spend around Rs 15,000 crore on repairs every year. The Indian aviation industry is expanding fast and that’s why there was a need to develop MRO facilities to cater to these new planes,” the CEO said.
Under the MRO policy passed by the cabinet, companies will be entitled to subsidies for setting up operations at the Noida airport. These will be – 5% capital subsidy for those spending Rs 500 crore, 8% for investment of Rs 1,000 crore and 12% for over Rs 1,000 crore.
“Before approval of the MRO policy, several rounds of talks took place in Noida and Lucknow with the international companies. The companies gave their presentations and apprised us about incentives in the policy that can boost investment opportunities. We studied the MRO policies of other states and adopted the best practices,” Singh said.
The UP government has also asked the concessionaire developing the airport to develop it as a transit hub for Asia-Pacific, with a focus on connecting countries such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia among others.
Start a Conversation
Post comment