Mumbai, March 7 (IANS) The first international aviation conference on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) covering both civil and military sectors will be held here March 16-18, an official said Sunday.

To be hosted by publications Indian Aviation and STAT Trade Times, the MRO India-2011 will attract some of the biggest names in the field for the event.

India already has a strong aerospace industrial base to contribute substantially to the country's economic growth, according to Pulak Sen, editor of Indian Aviation.

In the past 16 years, India has seen more engineering and research and development investments in aerospace than the US or Europe. The conference comes at a right time, he said.

According to a recent report by the Aeronautical Society of India, the MRO market is set to grow from below $1 billion to about $2.6 billion by the year 2020.

It is also estimated that the major segments of the MRO business, in terms of value, will be engines (30-35 percent), airframe (20-25 percent), components (20- 25 percent) and line maintenance (about 20-25 percent).

Except for line maintenance works, majority of MRO work related to the other segments are mostly carried out abroad, Sen said.

There is a potential and need for independent third party MRO facilities in India, he added, saying that there have been some new initiatives, both from some airports, private sectors and the government in this respect.

The event will attract the participation from Air Works India, Max Aerospace, Egypt Air, Tri-County Aerospace, INC, HEICO Aerospace, Turkish Technic, AAXICO, Partsbase, the Society of Indian Aerospace Technology and Industries, the ADS UK Group and United Helicharters apart from several airlines and other MRO service providers.

Industry leaders from across the aviation spectrum will attend the event, added Sen.