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IGRUA EoIs for JV in IGRUA invited, foreign participation sought

 New Delhi, Sep 30 (UNI)

Rae Bareli, the high-profile constituency of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, will be literally flying high with major global aviation players being invited to manage the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academy (IGRUA) based there.

 The decision by the Civil Aviation Ministry, headed by NCP’s Praful Patel, would dramatically alter the character of the prestigious IGRUA from a society to a company with joint venture partnership, to turn it around and increase the capacity of the institution to churn out 200 pilots a year as against only 40 now.

 Expressions of Interest (EoIs) have already been invited from major global players in flight training and six new trainer aircraft already acquired, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said from Mumbai.

 ‘‘The Government would soon invite global players in flight training to manage the IGRUA. Eventually, IGRUA which is now registered as a society would be converted into a company so that a JV partner with equity participation could also be brought in’’, he said.

 This would lead to the training of far greater number of pilots than was currently being produced by the academy, he was quoted as saying by an official spokesperson.

 The total training time would also be cut by almost half, from the present two years to about one year, Patel said adding that it would include simulator training so that once a pilot passes out, he or she could be directly absorbed into an airline.