Indien ergreift durch die Einrichtung eines "Aerospace Skill Development Council of India" erste Maßnahmen, um dem andauernden Problem des Fachkräftemangels in der Luft-und Raumfahrt zu begegnen.
Skill development council coming up to check aviation manpower crunch
India is set to take the first major step to address the perennial problem of
manpower shortage in the aviation and aerospace sectors by setting up the
country's first Aerospace Skill Development Council of India. The council, which
will bring together companies such as Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Indigo, Tata
Aviation, Hindustan Aeronautics and institutions such as National Skill
Development Council (NSDC) and Bangalore Chamber of Commerce, will create a
platform that will allow companies to get skilled manpower as per their needs,
and at the same time provide them an outlet to use their Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) funds.
As per government estimates, over five lakh
skilled workers would be needed in the aerospace and aviation sectors over the
next 10 years while the current infrastructure of training institutions and high
attrition rate of skilled labour due to growth of MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) activities in West Asia
and the Far East is clearly found wanting to provide the necessary skill sets
required by the sector. It is felt that unless steps are taken early to address
the issue, the sectors' growth would take a hit.
"HAL has taken the lead
to set up first such Council in India. All MROs, major airlines and other industry players have been invited to join
the council which will have 24 representatives of the sector," HAL chairman R K
Tyagi told the Financial express (FE). "We are bullish about this council and have started receiving
confirmation from top players in the industry," Tyagi said.
The MRO
industry is expected to triple in size from R2,250 crore in 2010 to R7,000 crore
by 2020. India has the potential to be an MRO hub due to the growing aircraft
fleet, location advantage and availability of talent. However, this future size
may still be small compared to the present MRO industry size of other countries
such as UAE (R8,000 crore per annum) and China (R10,000 crore per
annum).
As per the plan, the proposed council will get a contribution of
R4.9 crore from NSDC while HAL will put initial equity of R25 lakh. Private
airline companies are also expected to contribute generously for the initiative
as the government has allowed investment into the council to qualify as CSR
spend by corporates. Under the new Companies Act, the corporate sector has to
contribute at least 2 per cent of three-year annual average net profit towards CSR
activities, here to qualify.
Apart from the shortage of skilled workforce
for the sector, the country has still not sorted out certification issues
related to training of the required workforce. The certification, given by the
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is not yet comparable with
mandatory European standards. DGCA is now in the process of making its
certification equivalent to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is
mandatory for MROs to serve international airlines.
According to a study,
India is poised to become a large commercial as well as defence aircraft market.
With rising passenger traffic and increasing military and defence expenditure,
demand for aircraft will steadily increase, and with it, the opportunities for
MRO-related activity.
Currently, overhaul of military aircraft is almost
entirely undertaken by HAL. However, the Defence Procurement Procedure 2008
has outlined opportunities for outsourcing maintenance operations through the
establishment of public-private partnerships.
Boeing, Airbus, Malaysian
Airlines, Lufthansa Technik, SR Technics, Singapore Airlines and Timco are among
companies which have either set up an MRO of their own, or are in the process of
identifying a local partner for the same in India. Boeing will be building a $
100-million MRO centre in Nagpur whereas European Airbus Company is planning to
set up its MRO in Delhi by investing around $40 million. Bombardier, Embraer,
Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are also exploring MRO opportunities in the
country.