Facing a shortage of “specialized” aviation finance talent, members of India’s aircraft leasing industry — including Indigo and Air India — has urged the government to introduce employee tax incentives, housing support and dedicated aviation financing measures to strengthen Gujarat’s GIFT City’s ambitions of competing with global leasing hubs such as Ireland and Dubai.
Participating in the ‘Aircraft Leasing and Financing Summit 2.0’ held at GIFT City on Friday, the industry participants also raised concerns over tax-related challenges faced by aircraft lessors in India, including high tax scrutiny, litigation and uncertainty around the applicability of General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR). They said clearer tax rules and stronger double taxation avoidance agreements with other countries would help improve confidence among global leasing companies and make leasing aircraft from India more competitive.
“Introduce targeted measures to attract and retain specialized global aviation finance professionals in GIFT IFSC, including consideration of competitive personal taxation and professional mobility facilitation,” stated a report released by KPMG India at the aviation summit. The report titled, “Advancing the aircraft leasing ecosystem in India” warned that talent availability could emerge as the “critical success factor” for India’s aircraft leasing ambitions.
