Airbus MRO facility to come up in Nagpur

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Monday the world's largest aircraft manufacturer Airbus will set up the proposed MRO facility in Nagpur.

"Yes, the Airbus MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility will also be part of the international aviation hub that is being developed in Nagpur," Chavan said on the sidelines of the WEF-CII organised India Economic Summit in Mumbai.

However, the chief minister refused to share more details, including the time-frame for the project.

Comments from Airbus India were not available immediately.

The development comes on the heels of reports that Central Bureau of Investigation is planning to lodge an FIR against the officials of Airbus' parent company EADS, Indian Airlines and the aviation ministry for the inordinate delays in executing the project.

The Airbus Parent EADS was to set up a $100 million MRO facility as part of the $175 million concessions the government got as part of the Rs 8,000-crore (Rs 80-billion) Airbus deal to supply 43 aircraft to the erstwhile Indian Airlines inked in February 2005.

Late last week, Airbus executive VP for sales and marketing Kiran Rao had said that their parent company EADS had identified a local partner and the location for the much-delayed

MRO project, without either identifying the partner or the area, citing confidentiality.

"The delay in setting up the MRO was due to our inability to find a partner. But I am telling you, we are very serious about this and the work on the proposed facility will begin in a very, very short time. But we have just identified the location and we are going to start work very soon," Rao said.

Airbus is the largest supplier of air planes in the country and claims to enjoy around 70 per cent of the market share in India. Incidentally, Airbus rival Boeing Corporation is also working on a $100 million MRO in the Nagpur aviation hub.

According to Boeing India president Dinesh Keskar, the facility will be ready by the fourth quarter of 2012.

On whether the MRO facility will include engine overhaul, Rao had said his company has no interest in engine business as it is not into that business at all.

"The MRO will see only the airframe part. We don't get into engine, we have never done that and we will never do that. Nobody including your government expects us to do that," he had added.