More participation of private enterprises needed in Aerospace sector

There is a need for a larger ecosystem of private enterprises to transform themselves for greater participation in the aerospace sector to support the Government's 'Make in India' initiative, Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr Subhash Bhamre said on Saturday. While speaking at a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Summit under Make-in-India held at HAL Nashik, he stated that it is a welcome move that private organisations, including MSMEs, are being engaged in Design and Development of products and technologies. "Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been instrumental in nurturing a competitive aviation eco-system in India by way of collaborating with private industries as outsourced partners, with more than 30 percent of HAL's man-hours being outsourced including several critical work packages," Bhamre added. Bhamre further said that HAL's facility is of national importance and with the availability of state-of-the art infrastructure and expertise built over the years, additional orders on HAL would help Indian Air Force (IAF) bridge the gap between the existing and desired squadron strength in the shortest possible time. HAL is also likely to float Request For Information (RFI) soon for identifying the Indian Private Agency that can produce Dhruv helicopters in future. Considering the increasing need of helicopters in civil operations of the country, this will be a mega deal from HAL, which is the OEM and Licensor. "The company is keen to encourage private partnership in all its activities and as a major step, it would like to offer the indigenous helicopter 'ALH Dhruv' (Civil version) for manufacturing to select Indian private companies through Transfer of Technology," noted T. Suvarna Raju, CMD, HAL.