HAL to foray into civil aviation, aero-engine making biz

Says it sees huge opportunities in the segments

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited would foray into the civil aviation sector and aero-engine making business where it sees huge opportunities, besides designing, developing and manufacturing of unmanned aerial vehicles, its Chairman R K Tyagi said today.

He said the Director General of Civil Aviation had yesterday handed over civil certification to HAL Ozar airport, Nashik, which means it has been declared as an "alternate" airport to Mumbai. Ahmedabad airport was the alternate airport till now.

With this, flights coming to Mumbai, both domestic and international, can carry that much less fuel and more load, saving a lot of money, he noted. Tyagi added that with Mumbai airport getting congested, HAL is also eyeing the cargo business.

Addressing a press meet at Aero India 2013 here, Tyagi said, "Concerned authorities" have told HAL to take the role of a lead partner in the proposed Rs 7,500 crore national civil aircraft programme to develop a regional transport aircraft.

Officials said the goal is to build a 90-seater regional aircraft with private participation under a joint venture model.

He also announced that HAL would design and develop a 20 kN aero-engine.

"It will be a great emerging market to come because in a few years aero-engine market in India is expected to reach Rs 2,50,000 crore".

HAL's Director (Design & Development) T Suvarna Raju said the Bangalore-headquartered defence PSU has the expertise of manufacturing engines under licence agreements and knows the technology involved.

"HAL is venturing into creating a mig-segment engine, which will be used either on trainers what we have or regional jets (aircraft) we are looking at", he said.

Raju said the preliminary design of this engine would be reviewed in September this year, and the prototype is planned to be tested in three years.

Tyagi said HAL plans to design, develop and manufacture UAVs in partnership with research and development and other "teaching" institutions. It's already in discussions with IIT Kanpur and Indian Institute of Sciences Bangalore, among others. HAL wants to become a manufacturing and maintenance hub for UAVs, he said.

HAL has proposed to the Union Home Ministry that the Navratna company will prepare a blueprint vis-a-vis UAV requirements for paramilitary forces and also "requirements of cross-border terrorism".

The company plans an investment of Rs 500 crore to spearhead its UAV business initiatives, he said. "We have created a special UAV business group".

HAL is today a $3 billion company. Tyagi said the company aims to become a $10 billion firm by 2020, encompassing its business in military and civil aviation, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft) and UAV.

The company needs to make an investment of Rs 19,000 crore by 2020 to create infrastructure and facilities for undertaking various programmes, Tyagi said.

He said HAL is in discussion with the Human Resource Development Ministry to create an aviation university based in Bangalore which will be "full-fledged in every way".