| | MAY 20238When AI Engineering Services (AIESL) is put up for sale, Tata-owned Air India plans to bid alongside German aircraft-maintenance behemoth Lufthansa Technik and French-Dutch airline Air France-KLM's engineering unit.Singapore Airlines, which owns 25.1 percent of Air India, would join the partnership through its engineering subsidiary, SIA Engineering Company.AIESL, Air India's former engineering department that is now owned by the government, is the MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) organisation that primarily serves Air India's fleet. Its ownership is critical for Air India to ensure the seamless operation of its fleet of aircraft.According to a Lufthansa Technik representative, the business is closely studying the privatisation of AIESL in order to increase its footprint in India. "India is a highly dynamic growth market, and the rapid increase in air traffic will increase demand for MRO services". "We are already active and successful on the Indian subcontinent with our own component services facility, and we are keeping a close eye on this development in order to compete even more firmly in this growing market", she said. "One of the negative surprises of privatisation was the loss of Air India's engineering capabilities". of Air India's engineering capabilities. AIESL will continue to supply services till the end of the year. However, given our expansion, what happens after that is a matter of serious consideration", Wilson had remarked."AIESL currently handles 90 percent of our engineering work". So, acquiring AIESL makes sense to strengthen the airline's in-house engineering capabilities", an airline executive said, adding that the firm hasn't decided the consortium's partners or structure.AIESL is India's largest MRO provider, having six hangar sites around the country and an experienced crew. It handled 450 aeroplanes in FY 22 and earned Rs.840 crore in profit. According to a report released on Wednesday, India received 20 percent of total private equity and venture capital (PE-VC) investments in Asia Pacific last year, making the country a 'bright spot' amid the region's slowing capital flow.As per said report written by consulting firm Bain & Company in collaboration with Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), India received investments worth $61.6 billion last year, the third time it surpassed the $60 billion mark.In accordance with the 'India Private Equity Report 2022', there will be over 2,000 deals in 2022, continuing the strong flow from previous years. Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare, energy, and manufacturing investments increased by 50 percent to $28 billion, owing to strong domestic consumer sentiment.Investments in clean energy and electric vehicles totaled $8 billion, indicating a preference for ESG. Investments in consumer technology and IT/ITeS were down. Throughout the year, notable exits were made by healthcare investors."Long-term prospects of the Indian market continue to be bullish, in spite of the near-term global slowdown. Robust fundamentals of the Indian economy make it an attractive destination for private equity, evident from the fact that India crossed $60 billion in investments for a third time in a row", said Arpan Sheth, Bain & Company Partner and co-author of the report, in a statement in Washington."India has also continued to increase its share of PE-VC investments in the Asia-Pacific region, with $1 of every $5 invested in the region being invested in Indian assets". AIR INDIA SEEKING TO FORM PARTNERSHIP WITH GERMAN MRO FIRM LUFTHANSA TECHNIKINDIA GETS 20 PERCENT OF ASIA'S INVESTMENTS: BAIN & COMPANYIN FOCUSIN FOCUS
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