GMR Hyderabad Aviation SEZ Limited (GHASL), a 100% subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), has recently signed a Land Lease Agreement with Safran Aircraft Engines Services India Pvt. Ltd (SAESIPL), a subsidiary of Safran, a global leader in aircraft propulsion and equipment, space and defence markets with their headquarters in Paris, France. As per the agreement, GHASL will lease land to Safran who will build and operate the Engine MRO facility for LEAP turbofan engines. Spread across 23.5 acres of the land parcel within SEZ area of GMR Aerospace & Industrial Park, this facility will occupy around 36,500 sq. m of built-up space.
The construction of the facility will commence in September 2023 and it is expected to be handed over in December 2024. This facility in Hyderabad will be the largest MRO centre in the Safran Aircraft Engines network. Operations are set to commence in 2025 and will provide employment to about 1,000 workers at its peak operation capacity. The facility will adhere to Safran’s most stringent standards for industrial processes and machinery, including cutting-edge technologies like the latest integrated inspection methods and real-time monitoring of the maintenance shop process’s parameters. The new facility will operate on 100% sustainable green energy utilised from the GMR solar farm.
SAFRAN operates two industrial facilities for Cable Harnessing and Aircraft Engine Component manufacturing within the SEZ area of GMR Aerospace & Industrial Park. In addition, CFM, a JV of Safran with GE, operates an Engine Maintenance training facility at the Park.
GMR Aerospace & Industrial Park is housed at Hyderabad AeroCity, India’s first smart, greenfield Airport City, which is propelling the next stage of the evolution of airport cities. The Park offers ‘ready-to-use’ industrial infrastructure with the flexibility of choosing land within a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for businesses focusing on foreign markets and land in a Domestic Tariff Area for businesses catering to the Indian market.
The facility will initially have the capacity to service 100 engines per annum, which will gradually increase, to around 300 engines by 2035, as per a release. Safran Aircraft Engines said that this MRO project is a significant investment in its future in India and will bring additional key capacity to support the operations of its airlines customers, and will also contribute to the extension of the aeronautical ecosystem in the Hyderabad International Airport area.