Commercial transport jet engines supplier CFM International has said it plans to set up a spare parts service centre in Mumbai and an engine maintenance training unit in India.
"At present, spare parts for the Indian market are sourced from Europe. An engine costs $6-7 million and spare parts are expensive, too," CFM President and CEO Eric Bachelet told reporters.
The spare parts centre would be a warehouse that would house about 2,000 inventories. "It would be a pool of parts needed to support the urgent need of customers. Equipment most required by the customers would be kept in the spare parts centre," he said.
CFM, which is a JV between General Electric Company and Snecma (Safran Group), has six Indian air carriers in the client-listÂ
Air India Express, Air India, Jet Airways, JetLite, SpiceJet and GoAir.
Each of the aircraft owned by these carriers have two engines made by CFM. Jet has been CFM's biggest client since the Indian carrier was incorporated. "About 100 CFM engines are powered in Indian aircraft today," he said.
The Indian aviation industry is witnessing a rapid growth. New aircraft operators are entering and they have placed orders for new aircraft.
The civil aviation ministry expects about 1,000 helicopters and 5,000 aircraft to fly in Indian skies in the next three years.
Not giving away much details about the training centre, Bachelet said it would train mechanics.