MRO South Asia Summit 2018 sees high profile participation

January 18, 2018: The first edition of ‘Aerospace and Defence MRO South Asia Summit 2018’ which was inaugurated in New Delhi attracted major industry players of the MRO industry. The two-day conference themed as ‘Make in India- MRO Makes it Happen’ was held at the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi and discussed favourable factors like Make in India initiative accelerating the MRO industry in India.

Dr Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president Asia Pacific and India sales, Boeing, in his keynote said, “One out of every 20 aeroplanes sold worldwide is to India. That shows the magnanimity of the available opportunity in the country. The market is here, the growth is here and people (skilled workforce) are here. This opportunity in MRO should be tapped in time,” said Keskar.

He continued that Boeing spent 107 million dollars in building the Nagpur MRO facility which is being run by Air India. He further said, “The challenges for MRO are infrastructure, finding land, land acquisition, the higher duties on spare parties etc. Forums like this should collectively compile the suggestions and submit it to the different ministries.”

Photo: Dr Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president Asia Pacific and India sales, Boeing

The first panel had an electrified discussion on Make in India- MRO Makes it happen. The high profile panel consisted of Ashish Saraf, VP & Make in India Officer, Airbus; Kishore Jayaraman, President India and South Asia, Rolls Royce; Air Marshal JN Burma, PVSM AVSM VSM (Retd), Indian Air Force; Arun Kashyap, Executive VP Head of Engineering &Maintenance, SpiceJet; Harpreet de Singh, Exe. Director and Chief of Flight Safety, Air India: M Balakrishnan, Consultant, Air India Engineering Services Limited; Amber Dubey, partner and head of Aerospace and Defence, KPMG.

The first day of the conference also saw deliberations on subjects like a) ‘Defence MRO- Seizing the big opportunity’ b) ‘Internet of things, Big data analytics & Artificial Intelligence: strong tailwinds for future MRO’ c) ‘Key business drivers shaping the global MRO market in the next five years’.

The second day will see discussions on regulatory and government policy framework supporting Indian MRO and building a robust logistics and supply chain infrastructure for India’s civil & defence MRO.

Aerospace and Defence MRO South Asia Summit 2018 has been organised by The STAT Trade Times and is supported by Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) and Aeronautical Society of India. The conference also has Ultra Aerospace, Ramco Systems, Compass Law Associates, and Avion World as partners.

(Left to right: Reji John, STAT Trade Times; Kishore Jayaraman, President India and South Asia, Rolls Royce; Amber Dubey, partner and head of Aerospace and Defence, KPMG; Ashish Saraf, VP & Make in India Officer, Airbus; Harpreet de Singh, Exe. Director and Chief of Flight Safety, Air India; Air Marshal JN Burma, PVSM AVSM VSM (Retd), Indian Air Force; M Balakrishnan, Consultant, Air India Engineering Services Limited; Arun Kashyap, Executive VP Head of Engineering &Maintenance, SpiceJet.)