The Hindu Business Line : Copter pilot training to cost less

The decision of the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, to do away with customs duty of 10 per cent on helicopter simulators will see a reduction in the training and retraining costs of helicopter pilots.

The Chairman and Managing Director, Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd, Mr R.K. Tyagi, told Business Line that the budget proposal is likely to see the cost of training and retraining pilots decline by about 10 per cent. “At the moment it costs about Rs 18 lakh to train a helicopter pilot, which should now come down,” Mr Tyagi said.

Welcoming the decision, the Managing Director, Bell Helicopters, Mr B.S. Singh Deo, felt that there would be a marginal drop in training cost of pilots. “Pilot training is the top priority for the industry. The decision will give a fillip to this process,” Mr Singh Deo added.

On the reduction in pilot training costs, Mr Deo said that since all the training for helicopter pilots is not done in a simulator, there will only be a slight reduction in costs.

The decision to do away with customs duty comes at a time when the Government has declared 2008 as the Year of the Helicopter. Earlier this year, the Government also relaxed foreign direct investment rules for the helicopter sector and now allows 100 per cent FDI into the sector.

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