The MoA would enable India to get US assistance on a wide range of issues relating to aviation safety and technology, including modernising air traffic control procedures, setting safety standards and training of personnel.
The agreement would also enable the US to assist India in developing its own space-based navigation system, GAGAN (Geostationary Augmentation and Navigation) project, Marion C Blakey, Administrator of Federal Aviation Administration's, said in New Delhi.
She was talking to reporters after signing the MoA with Civil Aviation Ministry Joint Secretary R K Singh in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and US Ambassador David Mulford.
GAGAN would provide navigational coverage to aircraft from West Asia to Japan over the landmass and the oceans. The project would make India part of a select group of nations developing similar projects.
These nations were the US, European Union and Japan. Under the MoA, the US would provide technical and managerial expertise in developing, improving and operation of civil aviation infrastructure, standards, procedures, policies, training and equipment.
Besides US assistance in training Indian aviation personnel, the pact would also enable inspection of equipment and air navigation facilities, provide logistical support and equipment for navigation. The MoA would also allow US to assist India in helicopter safety and airport certification.
"With air traffic growing in leaps and bounds and the growth expected to remain at the same levels, new issues are bound to come up. Our agencies like the DGCA and AAI will get the help of the FAA," Patel said.
He said FAA certification of Indian products would enable Indian aviation equipment to enter not only the US market but markets the world over. The MoA, an umbrella framework agreement, would enable many more agreements to be signed between companies and agencies like Director General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd to seek special assistance from FAA and other US agencies.
The Union Cabinet had approved the signing of this agreement in May this year to create enabling provisions for seeking US assistance in specific aviation-related areas.