HAL calls for specific R&D clusters to meet PSU needs

Also suggests creation of an exclusive corpus for research activities

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's (HAL) chairman R K Tyagi has called for extending operational autonomy to public sector undertakings (PSU). Speaking at an event in New Delhi, Tyagi touched upon operational autonomy that PSUs must be given to stand-up to the challenges, skill development and the talent management.

He also suggested that creation of an exclusive corpus for research activities would go a long way in promoting long neglected research and development (R&D) in the country. "We should think of creating specific R&D clusters that cater to the research and technology needs of our PSUs and prepare them for present and future challenges," he said.

Tyagi also stressed on forming new institutional structures for creating the right environment for exports of the products the Indian PSUs aim for. He felt that the cost and quality advantage that Indian products enjoy needs to be leveraged better.

It may be recalled that HAL has taken a number of initiatives in the recent past to strategically use information technology as an enabler for improving operational efficiency, on-time delivery, cost optimisation and achieving global quality standards.

"This alchemy of transformation is being achieved by enhancing accountability and by performance measures at individual level, optimising processes by cutting down wastages, making information online and improving partner collaboration," said Tyagi, who was in Delhi for receiving an award for HAL for IT adoption and also for innovation.

HAL is focusing on 3Ps -- product, processes and procedures - to optimise product and service delivery mechanism under the recently-launched 'Project Parivartan' with a budget of around ~200 crore.