Air India and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL),  have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Karnataka for a cumulative investment of Rs  2300 crore in the state’s aerospace and defence sector.

The MoU was formalized today in the esteemed presence of the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, along with Minister for Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development, MB Patil. Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial and Transformation Officer of Air India,  Sukaran Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tata Advanced Systems Limited and Hari Marar, MD  CEO of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) and others.

 Air India will establish Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facilities at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (operated by Bangalore International Airport Ltd) starting with Airframe Maintenance through the development of Wide-Body and Narrow-Body hangars for all checks, including heavy structural checks. This initiative will help develop the broader MRO ecosystem in India and is expected to generate over 1200 highly skilled employment opportunities in the state. Air India plans to enhance its connectivity over Bangalore, this initiative is a step towards deeper presence of Air India Group at Bangalore and will entail scaling its direct connectivity to various global destinations on one end and aggregating traffic from Southern India.

The investment by TASL will be directed towards various endeavours, including implementing an Aircraft Modification, Conversion, Completion and Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility for defence purposes, setting up an indigenous gun manufacturing including barrel manufacturing facility and implementing R&D in the aerospace and defence sector. These ventures are expected to generate over 450 highly skilled employment opportunities in the state.