Need for closer Public - Private Cooperation in the Aviation Sector to Optimize the Opportunities
Speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Make in India - Infrastructure Opportunities & Challenges’, Mr. John M McCaslin, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, US Embassy expressed strong hope that improved municipal bonds and Infrastructure debt funds would pave the way for infrastructure development and management in India in the next decade. This, he said, was even more pertinent in the wake of the fact that public funding for Infrastructure is limited due to fiscal constraints and Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi’s ambitious goals of ‘Make in India’ and 100 ‘Smart Cities’.
He was speaking at the India-US Technology Summit, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the US Department of State at Greater Noida today.
Echoing Mr. McCaslin’s views, Mr. Parvesh Minocha, Chairman, Feedback International said “most of infrastructure verticals have done well in the last decade and as the economy is moving to next phase of liberalization, lessons from the past would be incorporated in the infrastructure policy road map for future”.
The Government of India envisages an investment of $1 trillion in Indian infrastructure projects in the next decade. The panel discussed the role of infrastructure and how it can play a crucial role in promoting economic growth, reduce disparity and bridge poverty. It also discussed how physical infrastructure in the sectors of transportation, power and communications, with its forward and backward linkages facilitates growth. On the other hand, social infrastructure including water supply, sanitation, sewage disposal, education and health directly improves people’s quality of life.
In his address, Mr S K Agarwal, Senior Vice President SBI Capital Markets assured that economic viability is one of the foremost priorities for infrastructure projects and he called on for more initiatives to create a more robust enabling infrastructure finance environment in the country.
Mr. Raj Kalady, Country Director, Project Management Institute emphasized on the importance of Project Management in contemporary infrastructure development and identified it as the tool to narrow down the gap between strategy and desired outcomes in the country. The high-powered panel, also had Dr. Sundar Kamath, Senior VP, Sanmina and Mr. Avik Bhattacharya, Director - Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
In another panel discussion, ‘Aviation Sector in India – the New Growth Story’, Dr. Prabhat Kumar, Director General, Directorate General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) emphasized the strong fundamentals i.e. strong & stable Government, high disposable income, least penetrated Indian market as the key indicators that would spur India’s Aviation growth story moving ahead. However, also realizing the critical challenges the sector faces in terms of high debt, lack of infrastructure; he deliberated on the need for closer Public - Private Synergies in the sector to address & optimize the opportunities available.
Echoing Dr. Kumar’s views, Mr. Kapil Kaul, CEO, CAPA emphasized that the Indian aviation sector is poised for significant growth, driven by massive investment in improving regional connectivity, a multi-fold increase in air connectivity and capacity augmentation. But much will depend on the policy-making, execution and the regularly oversight of the government. He also stressed on the value proposition that India can leverage from its strategic partnership with U.S.
Mr. Henry Steingass, Regional Director, South &SE Asia, US Trade & Development Agency and Mr. Palash Roy Chowdhury, Managing Director (India), Pratt & Whitney, agreed that India has the potential to become the third largest aviation market globally after the US and China. Both apprised the participants that they are closely working with the Government of India in technology up gradation, sharing of best practices, better utilization of satellite navigation system & skill upgradation.
In his address, Mr Amber Dubey, Partner & Head- Aerospace & Defence, KPMG India added that a lot more positive has happened in the sector of late which included reduction of taxes on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) by some states to as low as 1-2 % from 20%, collaboration between DGCA and Ministry of Civil Aviation, allowing of FDI in airlines among others. However several other challenges still remain. These include shortage of skilled manpower, lopsided taxation regime among others. He stressed that policy & regulatory overhaul is the need of an hour to harness the sector’s true potential.
One of the major points of discussion was the opportunities for cooperation between Indian and US businesses in the aviation sector. Mr Udayant Malhoutra, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Dynamatic Technologies, said that his company has been designing and building highly engineered products for Automotive, Aeronautic, Hydraulic and Security applications across the globe and has collaborated with many U.S companies including Boeing for new & emerging technologies in the sector.
While discussing the growth opportunities, the panel also highlighted the areas that would require greater attention-acute shortage of skilled technical manpower, lack of infrastructure, technological innovation and newer policies related to aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).
November 19, 2014
Greater Noida