UK-based Rolls-Royce & Partners Finance (RRPF) has made a formal application to set up an aircraft engine leasing unit in GIFT City, official sources said on Thursday.
The company that leases out engines to various airline companies, will set up an arm, RRPF Engine Leasing (India) IFSC Pvt Ltd, in GIFT City and will lease out “aircraft engines and other equipment to airline operators,” sources told businessline. The application of the company has already been granted “in-principle” approval by a committee of International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
Rolls-Royce & Partners Finance was established as a separate business in 1989 by Rolls-Royce and its financial partners. The company’s portfolio consists of aircraft engines from major OEMs including CFM International, GE Aviation, International Aero Engines and Rolls-Royce, states the company’s website.
The lone player, so far...
Till now, Willis Lease Finance India IFSC Pvt Ltd, registered in 2022, was the lone large player in the engine lease segment in GIFT City. This entity has leased most of the 63 engines, and most of it have been leased to Air India, official sources said.
In February 2024, businessline had reported that there are a total of 27 aircraft leasing entities in GIFT City, and all of them together had leased out over $1 billion of aviation assets in the last three years. Of the 148 assets leased till the beginning of 2024, 80 per cent are aircraft engines and ground support equipment. The aviation assets leased from GIFT City also include 20 aircraft, 9 helicopters, 63 aircraft engines and 56 ground support equipment.