Aircraft leasing

India’s progress in the aircraft leasing and financing sector has been marked with multiple milestones in the past few years. The aircraft leasing and financing ecosystem has been enabled at India’s maiden IFSC in GIFT City, as envisioned in the Project Rupee Raftaar report.

In the last decade or so, India has managed to achieve remarkable milestones y in the aircraft leasing and financing segment. This growth is on the account of increased focus on enhancing connectivity both domestically and internationally. The roll-out of air connectivity scheme ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’ to tier-2 and tier-3 cities has contributed to the increased capacity of the existing airports as well as development of new airports.

The regulatory framework with respect to aircraft leasing enabled by the IFSCA aims to develop India as a leading global aircraft financing hub such as the ones in Dublin (Ireland), Singapore, Hong Kong and Tianjin (China). The said framework permits leasing related to aircrafts, aircraft engines, aircraft ground support equipment, asset management support services, aviation training simulator devices, etc.

The regulatory framework, along with tax incentives, has drawn attention of various aviation sector stakeholders to evaluate the feasibility of setting up their presence in the IFSC.