North Bay’s Canadore College has opened an aviation training facility in India.
The college and Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) announced Feb. 4 of the opening of an Aviation Technical Training Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, in the state of Karanataka.
The centre will offer training in aviation maintenance, avionics, aircraft structural repair and aircraft maintenance engineering.
The establishment of the facility was done with the aid of the National Skills Development Corporation of India.
The announcement was made in concert with Premier Kathleen Wynne’s trade mission to New Delhi during the first week of February where $98 million in deals were announced between Ontario and Indian partners.
Bengaluru (also known as Bangalore) is considered the Silicon Valley of India, and is headquarters to some state-owned aerospace companies and institutions, including the National Aerospace Laboratories and Indian Space Research Organization.
India is ranked by that country’s department of industrial policy and promotion as the world’s ninth largest civil aviation market. By 2020, it’s projected to jump up to third, moving more than 60 million international passengers a year.
“The rapid growth will leave India underserviced if they don’t ramp up the number of professionally skilled aviation technicians,” said Richard Peters, Canadore’s vice-president of finance and corporate services. “This is why we are working diligently with NTTF, and other domestic and international industry players, to create a centre that will provide unparalleled training to produce job-ready graduates.”
A Canadore College news release said the fully-accredited facility meets the standards governed by the Aviation Sector Council of the NSDC, the director general of civil aviation of India and the International Civil Aviation Organization.
“This collaboration combines the strengths and advantages of each of our organizations to fill an important need identified by the Government of India,” said Peters. “It is very rewarding to be working alongside NTTF to help the nation upskill its workforce to meet global demands.”
