Rajeev may take off with aviation

When EADS CEO Tom Enders came to Bangalore recently, one of the few people he met was Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the man who is sitting on a pile of cash, having sold his BPL Mobile to Essar Group for an enterprise value of over a $1 billion.

Over dinner, the duo is understood to have discussed Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO), a badly required facility in India for the fast growing civil aviation industry in the country.

This facility is one of the crucial elements of a $1 billion investment blueprint drawn up by Chandrasekhar, which is about seed ventures in movies, music, technology besides other infrastructure sectors like rail and road cargo business, ports as well as logistics parks.

A big ticket announcement from Chandrasekhar is expected in three weeks time in one of these sectors.

According to industry sources, Chandrasekhar is moving fast to capitalise on the aviation boom which is unfolding in the Indian geography.

"Chandrasekhar was one of the few people who met up with EADS CEO Tom Enders when he was in Bangalore recently and this might be a precursor for his foray into aviation infrastructure. Aviation engine maintenance and related infrastructure space under the Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) is an area he is going after," the sources noted.

According to independent estimates, an MRO will usually consume around $200 million. Chandrasekhar's move in this sector comes among a slew of initiatives being plotted by various players also to come into this segment, which is expected to be in high demand given the dire neccesity of a MRO facility.

Currently, majority of aircraft in India are having to fly to Singapore for MRO.

The man himself declined to comment on all the initiatives, but according to industry watchers, he is shaping out significant deals. Recently, a part of his Rs 100 crore entertainment gameplan - FM radio, Radio Indigo took off and plans are afoot to move into music labels besides movies.

He has floated an venture capital arm, Jupiter Capital, for these investments besides in technology. According to various information, Chandrasekhar is interested in telecom and RFID technologies.

Chandrasekhar has already announced that he would participate in the private wagons gameplan of Indian Railways and has signed a joint venture with APL, an arm of $7 billion Nepture Orient Lines of Singapore.

Chandrasekhar moved into this sector following the recent privatisation of container routes by the Indian Railways. He floated a company Hindustan Infrastructure and will be investing in allied industries such as ports, logistics parks as well as the rail and road cargo business. This company has been capitalised at Rs 400 crore.