HAL woos pvt players to boost production of ALH-Dhruv civil

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Saturday invited Indian private players to boost manufacturing of the civil version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv under Transfer of Technology (ToT).

At a workshop organised by the HAL, Ajay Kumar, secretary, defence production, stressed that the private sector should grab the huge opportunity the country offered by collaborating with the public sector unit, the HAL said in a release.

Kumar asked HAL authorities to consider the suggestions made by the industry partners.

"Dhruv has a huge potential in domestic and global civil market and with HAL as the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Licensor, the deal will benefit the Indian partners immensely and help develop the aerospace eco-system in India," HAL chief managing director R Madhavan said.

Madhavan said India needed at least 600 helicopters in civil sector as of now.

During the interactive session, the participants gave their feedback and suggestions on HALs initiative.

A Request for Quotation (RFQ) was issued in April 2019.

Under this deal, the selected Indian Partner would also be required to provide support to the customers throughout the life of the product (20 years) thereby ensuring long term business relationship, the HAL said.

Prospective bidders, various supply chain partners, industry chambers of commerce like ASSOCHAM, FICCI, CII, Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), Karnataka State Development Council and Karnataka Udyog Mitra were invited to the workshop, the release added.