Govt seeks partner for pilot school at Gondia

The government is seeking a foreign partner for setting up a state-of-the-art pilot training school at Gondia in Maharashtra.

The training facility, which will be a 51:49 joint venture between Airports Authority of India and the global aerospace firm will be operational by 2007-08, Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel said.

The project cost for the facility is estimated at Rs 449 crore. "We are in the process of inviting expression of interest from the private partners to set up the facility. The bidding process will be completed by this year end and we expect the facility to be operational by 2007-08," Patel said.

The move is aimed at meeting the requirements of more than 800 pilots by 2010 as the Indian aviation market is booming at an exponential pace, he said.

"There is a serious shortage of pilots... We estimate, the aviation sector in India requires an investment to the tune of $60 billion and there will be more than 2,000 aircraft to cater the needs of the sector over the next five years.

"What we are planning is to provide a world-class facility for pilot training to create a huge employment opportunity here," Patel said.

The domestic aviation market is expected to grow more than 20 per cent a year until 2010.