The official, who recently took charge of India’s largest aeronautical company, said several major orders are in the pipeline and HAL is set to double its order book to ₹2.1 lakh crore within the next year, given the government’s strong push towards the Make in India policy. He added production of the LCA Mk1A aircraft is on track and the fighters would be delivered as soon as engines ordered from the US arrive.
“We are expecting that in this financial year we should be able to do it (finalise and sign the jet engine contract). We expect three years for the plant to start delivering and we will be on time,” he said.
The timeline for the jet engine plan matches the development plans for LCA Mk2 version that will be powered by the GE 414 Made in India under technology transfer.
The HAL CMD said while initially US manufacturer GE had agreed to a 56% technology transfer, this was increased to 80%, including critical technologies, after intervention from the higher levels of government. In the coming days, a negotiation committee will be formed to clear the technical and commercial aspects of the deal with experts from the defence ministry, HAL, Aeronautical Development Agency and Gas Turbine Research Establishment.
Interestingly, the deal – pegged at over $1 billion – will also heavily involve the private sector, with the CMD saying that a significant part of the work will be outsourced. Indian companies that have specialised expertise in this area include MTAR Hyderabad, Indo MIM Bengaluru, L&T, Godrej and Azad engineering, among others.”HAL outsources about 40-45% of its work and it will be a similar model. We will give machining outside as well as some parts to whoever has got this kind of equipment,” he said.The new CMD also expressed confidence that the order book for HAL is likely to expand significantly in the coming months on the back of a strong government push for Make in India. The official said that the present order book stands at about ₹1.10 lakh crore and contracts in the pipeline are likely to increase it to ₹2.1 lakh crore within a year.
This will include upcoming contracts for 97 additional LCA Mk1A aircraft and an order for 156 light combat helicopters, besides several orders for the Advanced Light Helicopters. “These orders will easily give us work for the next five to six years. The LCA Mk2, Indian Multi Role Helicopter and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft will take us into the next decade,” he added.
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- Source of information and images “economictimes.indiatimes”“