Saddled with an acute shortage of pilots, India will be investing Rs.3.6 billion ($80 million) to set up a new flying institute and strengthen an existing academy, Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Pradad has said.

"Over the next couple of years the government would invest the amount to upgrade the Indira Gandhi Rastriya Udan Academy (in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh) and set up a new flying institute in Gondiya near Nagpur," Prasad said in an hour-long interactive session with IANS editors.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) was exploring the possibility of a joint venture for the new pilot training institution by extending 49-percent equity to a consortium of airlines, both domestic and international, Prasad added.

He said almost all the domestic carriers, both private and public, were hiring pilots of foreign countries to operate their fleet due to non-availability of trained flyers, especially commanders.

"While we've allowed this as part of a short-term step, we have also increased the retirement age of the pilots to 65 years to fill in gaps," Prasad said, but added this could not continue for long given the 15 percent growth projected in Indian aviation over the next decade.
" India is able to produce just about 40 pilots annually," he said, adding the present plan was to improve the training facilities and infrastructure to give licences to at least 200 pilots annually.

He said in the interim, domestic carriers, whose numbers have proliferated in recent years following liberalization of the aviation industry in India, were relying on pilots from countries in South America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and various republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

According to him, some Rs.600 million ($14 million) has been earmarked for the Indira Gandhi academy to upgrade the existing infrastructure and to accommodate more candidates for training with a revised curriculum.

The academy that produces 30 pilots annually is expected to churn out 50 pilots towards the end of this year. "The number would be taken up to 100 the by the end of 2007."

Prasad said the AAI had recently acquired land to set up a new flying institute in Gondiya near Nagpur. "The project plan is being drawn up at an estimated cost of Rs.3 billion ($67 million) to train 100 pilots.

"The government is also open for a joint venture with a consortium of airlines and could consider a 49 percent equity partner in the project," he said, adding that the venture was coming up as an entity of the AAI.

The secretary said the government was also mulling plans to extend more support to the privately run flying institutes in the country. "We are also encouraging state governments that have shown interest in setting up institutes."

While the AAI will help in setting up the infrastructure to run such institutes, the government would help in roping in retired pilots who are not into regular flying but capable of conducting quality trainings modules.

(www.newkerala.com)