IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao led the Aerospace and Defense Roundtable in Washington DC. The event garnered participation from prominent US majors, advisory firms, think tanks, and startups, creating a dynamic platform for discussion and collaboration.
At the roundtable, the Minister showcased the spectacular growth of the Aerospace sector and private sector defense investments in Telangana in the past nine years making Hyderabad the most preferred investment destination for US Aerospace and Defense corporations.
Stating that Aerospace and Defense is a thrust sector in Telangana, KTR proudly shared that Telangana has achieved a remarkable feat by winning the Best State awards for Aerospace for three years in 2018, 2020, and 2022. Hyderabad was also ranked No 1 Aerospace city of Future in Cost effectiveness parameter by financial times FDI rankings 2020-21. These recognitions reflect the State’s progressive outlook towards the Aerospace sector.
Industry leaders who have their presence in Hyderabad recounted how progressive and approachable Telangana government and its leadership is and reassured further investments in the State as they are preparing to engage more Indian partners in key defense supply chains.
Telangana hosts multiple production lines for US majors including Lockheed Martin JC with TATA group that manufactures and exports Sikorsky helicopter cabins, C130 J empennages and F 16 Wings. Similarly, Boeing JV with TATA manufactures the entire Apache fuselages, Chinook aerostructures including tail and nose cones, and vertical stabilizers for the 737 series of aircrafts. GE manufactures Engine parts in Hyderabad. Raytheon group’s Pratt and Whitney has their only engine training center in India in Hyderabad. Safran has recently inaugurated their aero engine parts manufacturing facility and announced the first Engine MRO by an OEM in India in Hyderabad. The manufacturing ecosystem is supported by 1000 plus MSMEs exclusively into Aerospace and Defense manufacturing, many of whom are already integrated into the global supply chains of the OEMs.
Telangana has created several dedicated Aerospace and precision engineering clusters with world class infrastructure, Adibatla Aerospace SEZ is one amongst the first Aerospace SEZs in the country which host most of the mega projects of TATA group and their US JV partners. Minister highlighted how TS-iPASS, the revolutionary industrial policy, helped boost industry confidence by granting online time bound and transparent approvals based on self-certifications.