Textron to make Bell copters in India

Textron has a development centre in Bengaluru employing over 500 aeronautical engineers

US-based aircraft and rotorcraft maker Textron Inc would completely build its single-largest selling helicopter model — Bell 407 — in India, said Inderjit Sial, president and managing director of Textron India.

For this, the company will form partnerships with players in the local support ecosystem, including manufacturers of avionics, rotors, gearbox etc. “We are now doing a feasibility study and the facility will be up and running during the 2018-19 time-frame,” said Sial.

Sial added Textron was in talks with the state governments of Andhra, Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka to establish a manufacturing plant.

Textron has a development centre in Bengaluru, employing 500 aeronautical engineers. The company has a tie-up with Dynamatic Ltd to manufacture the Bell 407 cabins in Bengaluru, to cater to the export markets, especially the US and Canada.

The Bengaluru unit can manufacture four 407 cabins a month. Sial said the company would increase the capacity to 120 units a year by 2017. Bell 407 is the single-largest performer for Textron in terms of sales volumes. Bell helicopter has maintained a solid presence in the Asia-Pacific region for close to three decades, with an installed fleet of 1,000 helicopters serving multiple mission segments.

Sial said India offers a huge opportunity for Bell 407, and that the company would position the product as the right replacement to Chetak and Cheetah copters.

“We are looking at participating in the reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters programme of the Indian military, which is part of the Indian government’s Make in India initiative. An RFS (request for service) has already been called for, and we expect the Indian military to induct at least 400 Bell 407s, if the project is awarded to us,” Sial said.