Author name: admin

Delhi,7th July, 2022: Akasa Air, India’s newest airline, received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India.The grant of the AOC is the final step of a comprehensive and rigorous process laid down by the DGCA and marks the satisfactory completion of all regulatory and compliance requirements for the airline’s operational readiness. Following the government’s initiative to usher in a new era of digitisation, Akasa Air is the first airline whose end-to-end AOC process was conducted using the government’s progressive eGCA digital platform. The process concluded with the airline having successfully conducted a number of proving flights under the supervision of the country’s aviation regulator. Vinay Dube, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Akasa Air said “We are extremely thankful to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the DGCA for their constructive guidance, active support and the highest levels of efficiency throughout the AOC process. We now look forward to opening our flights for sale, leading to the start of commercial operations by late July. This will begin our journey towards building India’s greenest, most dependable, and most affordable airline”. “We also want to take this moment to thank and acknowledge the collective contributions of our employees and partners whose commitment, perseverance, optimism, meticulous planning and exemplary teamwork have helped achieve this milestone. This is not just a significant milestone for Akasa Air and Indian aviation, but also a testimony to the story of a vibrant and resilient India”. he added. Akasa Air, whose airline code is QP, received its first 737 MAX on June 21, 2022. Later this month, the airline will commence commercial operations with two aircraft, subsequently adding to its fleet, every month. By the end of the fiscal year 2022-23, the airline will have inducted 18 aircraft and thereafter 12-14 aircraft every 12 months, which will make up its order of 72 delivered over five years.

India, July 7, 2022 – Safran inaugurated three new production sites in India and announced the construction of a major new facility in 2025, bolstering its strategic partnership with the country. Safran has operated in India for 65 years and now counts 10 facilities and 750 employees in the country. These announcements, which represent more than $200 million of investment between 2018 and 2025, clearly reflect the Group’s commitment to long-term development in the country. “With these new sites, we’re opening a new chapter in Safran’s long history with the Indian aerospace and defense industries, and we are reaffirming our commitment to the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy and sovereignty strategy,” said Olivier Andriès, Chief Executive Officer of Safran. “To support the country’s dynamic aviation market, with passenger traffic set to more than double in the next twenty years, we are accelerating our investments and industrial development in India. Through the creation of our largest maintenance and repair center for commercial engines we are also paving the way to expand our MRO activities in India to military engines. With our three new production facilities and our major in-house IT center we will triple the number of employees in India over the next four years, building on the excellent local talent base. ” Two new neighboring plants are being inaugurated on July 7 in Hyderabad, for Safran Aircraft Engines and Safran Electrical & Power. The Safran Aircraft Engines plant, spanning 15,000 square meters (162,000 sq ft), will make rotating parts for the LEAP engine from CFM International. It will provide the additional capacity needed to meet the requirements of a production ramp-up for the best-selling commercial airplane engine of its generation. Eventually employing 275 people, this plant applies Safran’s highest standards in terms of industrial processes, machinery and equipment and sustainability, with one-third of electrical power to be provided by solar panels. During the inauguration, Jean-Paul Alary, Chief Executive Officer of Safran Aircraft Engines, announced the creation of a new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for CFM LEAP engines, to be built at the industrial Park of GMR. The largest MRO center in the network, it will start operations in 2025 and will eventually offer annual capacity of 250 to 300 engine shop visits. The LEAP and its predecessor, the CFM56, now power over 330 Airbus A320/A320neo and Boeing 737/737 MAX airplanes deployed by airlines in the Indian sub-continent. More than 1,500 LEAP engines are currently on order in the region. “Our new MRO 4.0 center in Hyderabad will strengthen our global network and enable us to meet the needs of our CFM customers against a backdrop of booming air traffic in India and the region,” noted Jean-Paul Alary. “We benefit from the fast growing aviation ecosystem and outstanding competences in the State of Telengana.” Safran Electrical & Power’s plant, located in the same airport zone as the Safran Aircraft Engines plant and sharing all support functions, makes wiring for LEAP engines and the Rafale fighter. Opened in November 2018, the plant has 150 employees today, growing to 200 when it reaches full capacity. The third plant is being inaugurated on July 8, 2022 in Bangalore, for Safran HAL Aircraft Engines, a 50/50 joint venture between Safran Aircraft Engines and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. This new site replaces the initial plant that dates from 2005, more than doubling the surface area and featuring state- of-the-art installations. It’s located in a Special Economic Zone near the Bangalore airport. Spanning 11,000 square meters (118,800 sq ft), the plant makes complex piping, mostly for the LEAP engine, and has about 150 employees. During his visit to India, Olivier Andriès announced the creation of Digit, an in-house entity tasked with development of digital systems for Safran. The entity’s two main facilities, in Hyderabad and Mumbai, start operations in the summer of 2022. Digit plans to recruit 1,000 people over the next five years by calling on India’s vast talent pool for the development of digital applications and systems, as well as cybersecurity.

New Delhi, 7th July 2022: The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has released the second provisional list of 23 beneficiaries under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for drone and drone components. These include 12 drone manufacturers and 11 drone component manufacturers. The Ministry invited applications from eligible manufacturers on 4th May 2022 and the last date for submission was 20th May 2022.The provisional list of PLI beneficiaries has been prepared on the basis of the unaudited financial results for 2021-22 and other information. The shortlisted beneficiaries have crossed the eligibility criteria related to sales revenue and value addition in FY 2021-22. Click here for MoCA’s public notice: https://www.civilaviation.gov.in/sites/default/files/Second%20provisional%20list%20of%20beneficiaries%20under%20PLI%20Scheme%20for%20drones%20and%20drone%20components.pdf The list of shortlisted drone manufacturers is as follows: Aarav Unmanned Systems, Bengaluru, Karnataka Asteria Aerospace, Bengaluru, Karnataka Dhaksha Unmanned Systems, Chennai, Tamil Nadu EndureAir Systems, Noida, Uttar Pradesh Garuda Aerospace, Chennai, Tamil Nadu Ideaforge Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra vii. IoTechWorld Avigation, Gurugram, Haryana Omnipresent Robot Technologies, Gurugram, Haryana Raphe Mphibr, Noida, Uttar Pradesh Roter Precision Instruments, Roorkee, Uttarakhand Sagar Defence Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra xii. Throttle Aerospace Systems, Bengaluru, Karnataka The list of shortlisted drone component manufacturers is as follows: Absolute Composites, Bengaluru, Karnataka Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India, Hyderabad, Telangana Adroitec Information Systems, New Delhi Alpha Design Technologies, Bengaluru, Karnataka Dynamake Engineering, Hyderabad, Telangana Imaginarium Rapid, Mumbai, Maharashtra SASMOS HET Technologies, Bengaluru, Karnataka Servocontrols Aerospace India, Belagavi, Karnataka Valdel Advanced Technologies, Bengaluru, Karnataka ZMotion Autonomous Systems, Bengaluru, Karnataka Zuppa Geo Navigation Technologies, Chennai, Tamil Nadu The combined annual sales turnover of the afore-mentioned companies has increased from INR 88 crore in FY 2020-21 to INR 319 crore (unaudited) in FY 2021-22. The eligibility criteria for the PLI scheme for drones and drone components includes an annual sales turnover of INR 2 crore for drone companies and INR 50 lacs for drone components manufacturers; and value addition of over 40% of sales turnover. The PLI scheme for drones and drone components was notified on 30th September 2021. Under the scheme, a total incentive of INR 120 crore is spread over three financial year which is nearly double the combined turnover of all domestic drone manufacturers in FY 2020-21. The PLI rate is 20% of the value addition which is one of the highest among other PLI scheme. A unique feature of drone PLI scheme is that the manufacturers who fail to meet the value addition threshold in 2021-22 will be allowed to claim the lost incentive in the subsequent year if they make up the shortfall in 2022-23. Click here for the PLI scheme for drones and drone components: https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2021/230076.pdf Apart from the PLI Scheme, Government of India has carried series of reforms to make India a global drone hub by 2030. These include notification of the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021; publishing of Drone Airspace Map 2021 which opens nearly 90% of Indian airspace as a green zone upto 400 feet, UAS Traffic Management (UTM) policy framework 2021; Drone Certification Scheme 2022 which makes it easier for drone manufacturers to obtain a type certificate; Drone Import Policy, 2022 which bans import of foreign-made drones; and the Drone (Amendment) Rules, 2022 which abolishes the requirement of a drone pilot licence for drone operations.

New Delhi, 6th July 2022: Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI) organised a stakeholder workshop for evaluation of Krishi UDAN 2.0. The conference brought together experts from Air Cargo Sector for highlighting the benefits of Krishi UDAN and how domestic air cargo players can work in convergence and creating a seamless transaction across the value chain. The workshop was chaired by Rajiv Bansal, Secretary,MoCA, and was moderated by Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary-MoCA. The Workshop was attended by Piyush Srivastava, Senior Economic Advisor, MoCA, Shri Saurabh Endley, Joint Secretary- MoD North-eastern Region,Ashutosh Dey, Joint Secretary, DONER, Ajay Kumar, CEO, AAICLAS, senior dignitaries from MoCA, AAICLAS, FICCI, MoA&FW, Department of Fisheries, 26 Airport Directors (APDs) across the country and various other stakeholders of Indian Air Cargo Sector. Highlighting the importance of workshop on Krishi UDAN, Shri Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, MoCA said, “Such workshop helps in having a meaningful discussion and act a brainstorming session for new ideas. During the 2 years of Covid-19 Pandemic, there was a great realisation that the cargo can play a major role in sustainable options of Airlines. Our country is a vast country which has diversified agriculture produce, and it is in the interest of the airline and the airport to facilitate the transportation of agricultural products which will lead in creating a sufficient demand for local producers in domestic as well as international market. We (MoCA) are willing to work on some pilot projects with the help of agricultural department and state governments regarding a transport subsidy scheme which will help in faster transportation.” Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA, made a presentation on “Krishi UDAN 2.0 Evaluation”, highlighting the achievements, scope, impact on Agriculture industry and future of Krishi UDAN. Performance of the scheme with respect to various airports was also deliberated. It was also informed that 5 new airports namely Belagavi, Jharsuguda, Jabalpur, Darbhanga and Bhopal are to add to the list of existing 53 list of Krishi UDAN airports. With this, 58 airports would be actively participating in Krishi UDAN. Another presentation on domestic and international cargo in India was made by Ajay Kumar, CEO-AAICLAS, which highlighted the growth and impact of AAICLAS on the Agricultural industry and how AAICLAS is helping in Krishi UDAN. A Q&A session was also held after the presentations where various industry players give their suggestions on how to make transportation of agricultural and perishable products better and timely. Krishi UDAN Scheme 1.0 was launched in August 2020, on international and national routes to assist farmers in transporting agricultural products so that it improves their value realization. Improving the scheme further, Krishi UDAN 2.0 which was announced on 27 September 2021 will focus on transporting perishable food products from the hilly areas, north-eastern states, and tribal areas. Source: PIB