Aircraft manufacturing to get infra status soon

INCENTIVE FOR DOMESTIC CAPACITY TO BUILD SMALL PLANES

- PRASANTA SAHU

THE GOVERNMENT IS considering granting “infrastructure status” for aircraft manufacturing, ina bid to create a domestic production base for the sector, which is heavily import-depen-dent.

The move is expected to encourage joint ventures with foreign partners to facilitate domestic manufacturing of regional passenger and cargo aircraft,catering tothe country’s burgeoning middle class, sources told FE. In recent years, regional air connectivity has increased significantly, with the opening of many new airports, and policy support via Ude Desh kaAam Naagrik(UDAN) scheme.

The inclusion of aircraft manufacturing in the Har-monised Master List (HML) of infrastructure will unlock targeted financial and policy support to accelerate development forthe sector.These include concessional long-term financing from banks, access to funds from insurance and pension funds, easier external commercial borrowings and various tax incentives and exemptions.