HYDERABAD · AIR
India’s MRO build-out is racing to catch its own order book
With the world’s fastest-growing large fleet, India is trying to keep maintenance value at home instead of exporting it to the Gulf and Southeast Asia.
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India has the order book; now it wants the maintenance revenue that comes with it. As the country’s carriers take delivery of one of the largest narrowbody backlogs in the world, a wave of MRO investment is trying to ensure those aircraft are serviced domestically rather than flown to established hubs in the Gulf and Southeast Asia. Tax reforms and land allocations have made the economics work for the first time.
The prize is substantial: heavy checks, component repair and eventually engine work represent a decades-long, cash-generative annuity attached to every aircraft delivered. Keeping even part of that onshore supports skilled employment and reduces the foreign-exchange drain of sending airframes abroad.
The gap is capability depth. Line and base maintenance are scaling quickly, but engine and complex-component work require certifications, tooling and experience that take years to build. Partnerships with established OEMs and MRO groups are the fast route, and several are now forming.
Our read: India’s domestic MRO is a structural growth story tied directly to its fleet. The question is whether capability can be built fast enough to capture the work before it habituates to overseas shops.