The News: Mahindra Aerospace Australia (MAAPL) has been officially liquidated after going into voluntary liquidation in July 2024. The Indian conglomerate received AUD 3.025 million (approximately USD 2 million) from the liquidation process.

The Investment: Mahindra acquired a 75.1% stake in Australian aircraft maker GippsAero and component manufacturer Aerostaff Australia in December 2009 for Rs 175 crore (about $38 million at the time), expecting to tap into the global aviation market.

The End: After shutting down manufacturing in 2020, selling the business back to original owner George Morgan in November 2023, MAAPL has now received its final de-registration certificate, completely exiting the aircraft business.

When Mahindra Group, India's automotive giant, entered the Australian aircraft manufacturing business in 2009, it seemed like an ambitious but logical diversification. The company acquired GippsAero (Gippsland Aeronautics) and Aerostaff Australia, planning to manufacture 8- and 10-seater planes for the global market.

But what followed was 15 years of mounting losses, production shutdowns, and ultimately, a complete exit from the business.

The problems were clear early on. In November 2020, Mahindra Deputy Managing Director and Group CFO Anish Shah announced they had "shut down our Gipps Aero business, which was into the manufacturing of 8- and 10-seater planes in Australia."

Shah was blunt about the situation: "For the company, the positive is that the aircraft business is behind us because that had taken a significant amount of cash and the industry even earlier was not in a good shape."

The closure came just over a year after one of the planes manufactured at the Australian facility crashed in Sweden, killing nine people — a tragedy that highlighted the risks........

© International Business Times