World's first chopper city in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: India will soon be home to a hi-tech Helicopter City that promises to be a one-stop shop for all chopper-related services —
maintenance, hire, overhaul, R&D, aerospace training, design and avionics.
The project will come up near Surat in Gujarat and is touted as world's first integrated complex for chopper services. Australia-headquartered Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), world's leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence, will invest around Rs 1,000 crore to develop the Helicopter City that will be part of the Rs 11,500-crore Gujarat Vittal Innovation City (GVIC), a multi-product SEZ that will come up at Umargaon near Surat.
The project will also draw global investments as talks are on with US-based and Middle East-based companies. The project will include a general airport and is part of the largest single-location aviation project in the country.
With India Inc expanding operations, chopper services are gaining popularity. As per an estimate, India can produce 125-150 choppers yearly if policies and regulatory requirements are suitably amended and procedural barriers removed. This can attract an investment of about $350 million. At present, companies charge Rs 75,000 per block hour, depending upon the package of the service, CAPA sources said. CAPA CEO, South Asia, Kapil Kaul said in addition to providing maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, the project will also have an aviation institute with facilities of R&D, aerospace, design and avionics.
30/09/09 Himanshu Darji/Economic Times

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Sep 2009, New Sep 2009