A Runway Success Story
India, with barely 0.14 per cent of the global market in aerospace sales still managed to draw key companies to Bangalore, proving that global aerospace companies are now looking to Asia.
This time round, Aero India 96 boasts 101 foreign participants, including a large Russian presence. The topguns of the aircraft manufacturing industry Lockheed Martin, Airbus Industrie and Boeing have all winged their way to the Garden City to display their state-of-the-art aerospace products.
Weve targetted India as a growing market. Be it for outright sales, co-production or technology transfer, its all happening here, avers Shyam Uttamsingh, director, sales and marketing, Allied Signal. This US $12 billion Los Angeles-based company has just struck a deal with Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) to outsource aviation software and aerospace components. They are also pinning their hopes on bagging the $250 million deal to jointly manufacture the engine for the multipurpose, indigenously-built Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). If Allied Signal has put up a stall here as an act of solidarity with HAL, then British Aerospace is fondly hoping to revive negotiations with the defence ministry for their sophisticated combat trainer aircraft, HAWK 100. There are three contenders for the deal. Negotiations had stopped in February, but we believe it will restart, says Mark Ritson of British Aerospace.
Ritson feels its unrealistic to expect to clinch business deals here. It is a shop window, not a place for making a straight-forward sales pitch.
But we are here to underline our commitment to our partners of over 50 years, he adds. But nobody is here for altruistic reasons the US $12 billion American company, Raytheon, hopes to woo Indian corporates with its commercial, 19-seater turboprop aircraft Beach King air series and Business Jets Hawkers.
However, Barry French, director, international public affairs of Raytheon, hastens to add, We are here to get Raytheon more understood in India. The American firm has been selling aircraft in India since 1940, and are keen to hawk more of their ATC systems and radars. Raytheon, incidentally, is part of the consortium that will build, own and operate the Bangalore International Airport. It is also setting up the ATC
systems at the Mumbai and Delhi airports.
The prime ministers announcement of beginning production for 50 and 100 seater aircraft, has sent all the participants into a tailspin, vying for co-production tie-ups.
Meanwhile, the German heavyweight, Daimler-Benz Aerospace, flush with success from bagging big contracts in Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur for airport lighting projects, are hoping to tap the Indian market. They are zeroing in on the ATC and Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS) market and the cargo conversion market. A study conducted by them revealed that the cargo market in India is growing at the rate of 8 to 10 per cent.
We hope to focus our attention on these different segments in the near future. Basically, we are here to make and intensify our contacts, reveals Dr Matthias Winter of Daimler-Benz.
Clearly, Aero India 96 is an India-centric show geared towards domestic business. There are no foreign buyers, even from Asia, shopping at the Bangalore airshow. This means that if a firm is not marketing its wares to HAL or to the obdurate, dilly-dallying Indian military or targetting new areas, then it stands on thin ground. Worse, since India appears to favour a long-time friend like the Russians, a lot of companies are resigned to chewing the cud.
The company representative of US aviation giant, Lockheed Martin, complains, India has to be willing to buy products from more than just one source. If companies begin to feel that they have no chance to sell their products, they wont come the next time. This is business, not pleasure.
Forking up US $60,000, only to watch the tide flow past must be an unique experience for the worlds largest aviation company. We are being charged the same fee as at the Paris show I dont know how right that is. But, we are negotiating for a number of projects with different defence ministry agencies here, and we hope something will come of it. Then we can weigh if it was worth participating in this show, adds the Lockheed Martin representative.
Organised by the defence ministry, Aero India 96 has been whirring around the latest additions to the Indian Airforce the multipurpose combat aircraft, the Sukhoi (SU) 30MK, with its spellbinding agility.
Built by the Russians, the SU-30MK has stolen the show, much to the chagrin of the other participants. Having already witnessed the powers of the amazing SU-37 with its thrust vector engine at all the major fairs such as the British Farnborough and the China Zhuhai show, the foreign participants are left cold by Indias enthusiasm for the SU-30.
At the Farnborough show we saw Americas latest combat aircraft, the black, triangular Stealth bomber. That was exciting, and so were a wide range of business jets at the Farnborough show, says a smug foreign participant. He quickly adds, Of course, the SU-30 is a treat and you should not give the Indian government flak for it.
The Lockheed Martin representative notes, I have not seen any special highlights in this show. But we knew what to expect. India has to work towards attracting more top players and making it an event worth attending. He feels the India-centric nature of the show may work against it in the long run: You only meet Indians here, but in the Singapore show you get to meet businessmen from the Pacific rim, Thailand, China and Australia. The Singapore show has an international flavour.
The message is clear only those interested in a long-term stake in the tiny Indian market will come for future jamborees. Aero India 96 is small compared to Farnborough, the oldest show in the world, where companies fork up close to $5 million to participate. And it doesnt come anywhere near the Paris show or the professionally-run Dubai show.
However, Aero India 96 will be remembered for a breathtaking display of engineering skill. Against all the odds of resource crunches and political interference, the last decade of aerospace development research is finally paying off.