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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

DGCA orders special audit of aircraft owner

Mumbai : The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has commenced a Special Audit of VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd – which owned the ill-fate Learjet 45 aircraft that crashed in Baramati on Jan. 28, killing Deputy Chief Minister Ajit A. Pawar and others.   The Special Audit, ordered by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) started on Feb. 4, and is likely to be completed shortly. The DGCA said it would release the Preliminary Report of the air-crash within 30 days of the occurrence (by Feb. 28), as per...

DGCA orders special audit of aircraft owner

Mumbai : The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has commenced a Special Audit of VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd – which owned the ill-fate Learjet 45 aircraft that crashed in Baramati on Jan. 28, killing Deputy Chief Minister Ajit A. Pawar and others.   The Special Audit, ordered by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) started on Feb. 4, and is likely to be completed shortly. The DGCA said it would release the Preliminary Report of the air-crash within 30 days of the occurrence (by Feb. 28), as per ICAO norms, and the Final Report will follow in due course.   The DGCA team will conduct a comprehensive review of the regulatory compliances, operational control systems, maintenance practices, crew training standards, safety management systems and monitoring of the Black Box.   Rohit Pawar vindicated The move comes as a victory for Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MLA Rohit R. Pawar, who had launched a massive campaign raising suspicions on the crash, questioning if it was an accident or a conspiracy, demanding grounding of the VSRVPL fleet and removal of MoCA Minister K. Rammohan Naidu till the investigations are completed.   Subsequently, many other leaders of various parties including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) headed by the late Ajit Pawar, Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), besides members of the Pawar clan also joined the clamour for a transparent probe.   The MoCA said that the findings of the Special Audit, due to end soon, would be reviewed and necessary action shall be initiated in accordance with the DGCA’s Enforcement Policy and Procedures Manual.   Audit of other operators Besides, multiple surveillance of VSRVPL were carried out across areas such as flight safety systems, flight duty time limitations, maintenance compliance (CAR M and CAR 145), documentation and station facilities, which were addressed and closed.   Now, the MoCA has directed the aviation watchdog to carry out special audits of other major non-scheduled operators and aerodromes engaged in VIP|VVIP operations.   “These audits are being conducted in phases and appropriate enforcement action will be taken wherever required. During 2025, the DGCA conducted 51 regulatory audits of non-scheduled operators,” said the MoCA.   On the ill-fated Learjet 45 (VT-SSK), the government said that the Baramati accident is being probed by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) strictly in accordance with the Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2025 and the Standards and Recommended Practices contained (SARP) in ICAO Annex 13.   Rohit Pawar had voiced apprehensions on these aspects and sought to know how the company was allowed to continue operations in India when it had been banned in Europe in the past.   Two recorders on Learjet 45 Black Box The aircraft – with five on-board - was equipped with two independent flight recorders, the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR), manufactured by L3 Communications, which has been successfully downloaded at AAIB’s facility in New Delhi, inaugurated in 2025.   The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) sustained thermal damage. As it is manufactured by Honeywell, USA, technical assistance has been sought from the State of Design/Manufacture.   However, there are few takers for the theory of damage to the CVR, which - as Rohit Pawar pointed out several times - can withstand temperatures of around1100 C.   The MoCA said that the AAIB’s investigation is technical and evidence-based, involving systematic examination of wreckage, operational and maintenance records and laboratory testing of components where required.

Indian Shipbuilding A Must Win Marathon

Shipbuilding

With a coastline of 7500 KM, it is hard to imagine, that for the first 20 years (1947-1967) India had no ‘shipping ministry’. In 1967 a Shipping ministry “coupled” with ROAD transport was established. Since then, this ministry has been on a name changing ride, not once, not twice but six times. In 2009 the “ROAD Transport and Highways” was de-coupled and ‘Shipping’ ministry was formed. Turning point came in 2015 with a clear maritime vision for 2030 and 2047. Ministry was re-christened, aptly to Ministry of “Ports, Shipping and Waterways” in 2020.


Why is Shipbuilding important for a country?

a. A Shipyard becomes an opportunity hub and like a queen bee requires the support of an industrial colony to manufacture machinery and equipment.

b. National Shipyards support fleet renewal needs of the Navy.

c. Contributes to national GDP, increases inflow of FOREX.


Korea shipbuilding is 8% of GDP. Japan’s automobile industry is 2.9% of GDP. India’s shipbuilding a meagre 0.000578% of GDP. In context, India’s pharmaceutical industry, ranked third largest in the world is 1.72% of India’s GDP.


International Shipbuilding Market

The market is estimated to reach around USD 200 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 4.84%. While India is at bottom with 0.07% of world share, behind Philippines 1.5% and Vietnam 1%, however on the positive side, India has done well in taking care of its defence needs, with 37 of 39 Naval ships being built in India yards. Rear Admiral S Shrikhande researching on maritime as a Fellow at Wollongong University, Australia, says “Shipbuilding in India needs both, serious incentivisation and dogged determination and not harping on being a big ship breaking country. That Garden Reach shipyard has a $54 million order for merchant ships from a German owner, is a good sign.”


Were Shipyards of 20th century in Flight mode?

Prominent shipyards in India were built in the colonial period. Mazagon Dock 1774, Garden reach 1884, Hindustan shipyard 1941 to cater to British navy and merchant fleet needs. Cochin shipyard 1972, Adani Katupalli 2013, Reliance Naval and Engineering, Rajula Gujarat 1997 and others have limited capacity, hence a lot more work to do. Capt. Subhangshu Dutt (Singapore) a mariner and now a shipowner, says “GOI should hold hands in any collaboration till the marriage with the foreign entity is reasonably stable. He also suggests that “new shipbuilding sites should be given to existing successful shipyards since they have decades of experience and talent. Consortium of 3 or more parties may also be good idea”.


Shipbuilding GOLD

As per SPLASH report the demand for LCO2 carriers could reach 2,500 ships by 2050. As per other estimates, 40% of global fleet of ships could have wind propulsion by 2050. A surge in such vessels is due to an unparallel waves of decarbonization in the shipping industry. Demand for ships with ‘carbon neutral’ badges, such as Dual fuel, Wind assisted, Nuclear fuel ships, Hydrogen powered ships, Liquified CO2 (LCO2) carrier, is outstripping supply. A must in the ‘bucket list’ of every Shipyard. Pinning down a standard ROI in shipbuilding is not easy, but experts suggest it could range from 4% to 15% for the high demand ‘carbon neutral’ ships. While an LNG new build vessel could cost US$ 250 million upwards.


International collaboration

On China’s shipbuilding success story, Manoj Pandalanghat (Singapore) a mariner and ship owner believes that “China has around 50 active Shipyards. Each have a few large dry docks. In each dock two or more large vessels are built simultaneously. Thus, a single yard is able to roll out 2/3 vessels/month, 36 vessels/year and 50 shipyards roll out 1800 vessels/year”.


China could be a jaldi-5, but India needs a sturdy Mount Fiji. Besides technology, Japanese bring the most important hand baggage of soft-skills and culture, essential for success from keel laying to delivery. Maruti’s is a standing example.


Food for thought for New Delhi

a. Expertise: Hire Naval Architects and shipbuilding experts with current international experience.

b. Government assistance: Land, Financial support, subsidies and timebound clearances.

c. Monitoring: PMO should monitor the first 5 to 10 years till Shipbuilding takes-off on this long-haul flight to destination 2047.


India’s Shipbuilding is expected to grow to $237 billion by year 2047. On a back of the envelope calculations this works out to about 4% of India’s 2047 projected GDP of $ 5 trillion. While cars are driven on roads, however the Ministry of roads and transport has little to do with “Automobile manufacturing”. On a similar note, ‘Shipbuilding’ as an industry has little to do with Ports, Shipping and Waterways, thus it may be worthwhile to consider a separate ‘Ship-building’ wing in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways headed by a dynamic cabinet rank minister. Since 2047 targets are stiff and an uphill task, so in all probabilities, the officials in Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways are likely to push beneath the carpet, delays and failures of Shipbuilding with sweet success stories of “Ports, Shipping and Waterways” and if this does happen then India will not only miss the Shipbuilding bus of 21st century but a lot more from a national security and strategic perspective.


(The author is a Shipping and Marine consultant. Member Singapore Shipping Association and empaneled with IMO as a specialist consultant. Views personal.)

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