Adani Defence Systems & Technologies (ADSTL) has acquired Air Works, India's biggest and highly diversified independent Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) provider, for an enterprise value of INR 400 crore.
The acquisition makes ADSTL well-placed to benefit from the growth in India's MRO market, which is expected to grow three times from $1.7 billion to $5 billion by 2030.
Having a presence across 27 cities, Air Works undertakes base maintenance for ATR 42/72, A320 and B737 fleet of aircraft from its EASA and DGCA-certified facilities at Mumbai, Delhi, Hosur and Kochi.
'Given India's growth trajectory and the Government's focus to network the nation through a massive mesh of air connectivity, it is inevitable that the primary growth of India's airline and airport sector lies ahead of it. Therefore, the MRO sector has a crucial role to play in both the defence and civilian aerospace sector. Add to this the ongoing modernisation programme to make India a large market for defence aircraft, and what emerges is one of the most exciting, comprehensive, scale and digital MRO services within the boundaries of the nation,' said Ashish Rajvanshi, CEO of Adani Defence & Aerospace.
Stating that India has the potential to become the MRO hub for the region across defence and civil aircraft, D Anand Bhaskar, MD & CEO, Air Works Group, said it is a wonderful opportunity for Air Works and its employees to be subsumed under Adani Defence & Aerospace platform. 'The Government's policy measures and initiatives, including the convergence of civil and defence MRO, would create economies of scale and huge employment opportunities,' he added.
Air Works has also built a growing defence MRO portfolio; it undertook the first P-8I aircraft Phase 32 checks to Phase 48 checks and MRO on the landing gear of the Indian Air Force's 737 VVIP aircraft. In addition, air Works and Boeing are currently undertaking heavy maintenance checks on three P-8I long-range maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft operated by the Indian Navy (IN).