New Delhi: A leading Canadian aviation firm has signed an MoU to set up a flight training institute at Gondia in Maharashtra and another accord to manage operations of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academy in Rai Bareilly.

Canadian Aviation Electronics (CAE) Inc and Airports Authority of India would form a joint venture to set up a National Flying Training Institute at an estimated cost of $25 million in Gondia, the constituency of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

Separately, the CAE would work with the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academy (IGRUA) in Rai Bareilly, which is represented by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, to manage its operations, an official spokesperson said here. Both these agreements were signed at the Paris Air Show in the presence of Patel, who said India would need about 5,000 pilots over the next five years to meet the industry needs.

"Creating these world-class institutions in the country with CAE as our partner is a major government initiative targeted at tackling both the acute shortage of Indian pilots and improving the overall quality of the cadet supply within the country," he said in Paris.

Under the first MoU, AAI will hold 49 per cent equity and CAE the remaining 51 per cent. The JV company, with sophisticated technology and new aircraft, would provide training to civil pilots in fixed and rotary wing aircraft. The institute would produce about 200 pilots a year.

As per the second MoU, CAE will assume responsibility of the management of IGRUA's existing flying school operations within two months and enhance the institute's capacity from present 40 cadets to 110 per year and eventually to 200.