By: Suresh Krishna Moorthy
In a major leap forward for Telangana in the aerospace sector, IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao, top executives of Boeing India and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) have announced setting up of a facility on the outskirts of the city to make the fuselage for Apache helicopters.
The announcement came from Boeing India president Pratyush Kumar and managing director of TASL, Sukaran Singh in the presence of Mr. Rama Rao and Secretaries Arvind Kumar (Industries) and Jayesh Ranjan (IT). The finer details of the extent of land to be made available, the exact location and the timelines are yet to be firmed up.
Briefing media after participating in a supplier meet during the ongoing Defence & Aerosupply Conclave 2015 here on Wednesday, the Minister said that it was a historic occasion to witness the signing of the JV by the two majors. “I can assure you that this is just the beginning,” he said, going on to add that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had plans for aerospace and defence sectors, going forward.
“We already have several large facilities in the existing aerospace park at Adibhatla and are in the process of setting up three more such exclusive, aerospace and defence sector-specific parks in Nadirgul, Eliminedu and another to the North of Hyderabad, the exact location of which we are yet to zero in on,” said Mr. Rama Rao.
Mr. Pratyush Kumar termed it a special day when they met over 100 Indian buyers and vendors. It marked a special occasion. The JV would initially start with making aero structures, with the Apache fuselage and move on to manufacture of advanced systems in the future.
“We have been in Telangana State for over 5 years and are very happy with the experience. The JV will truly be a Make in India initiative,” Mr. Sukaran Singh said.
Going on to explain further, the Minister said that it was not as if it was just one JV with one facility. “Majors like Boeing and TASL come with their suppliers and that means ancillary units. This translates into more local employment.
This will also have an effect on the 1,000-odd small and medium enterprises already working in the sector, for whom this will be an ideal opportunity to scale up their number and progress from being Tier III, to Tier II and eventually Tier I positions,” he stated.
Considering the fact that this aerospace and defence sectors needed skilled workforce, he said Government was planning to set up skill development and training facilities. “We have had positive expressions of interest from Aerocampus Acquitaine in Bordeaux, France and from Pratt & Whitney for establishing their own centres for skill development,” Mr. Rama Rao said, summing up.
Source: The Hindu