Aequs to set up MRO facility this year, plans to hire 1,000 more people

Bullish on growth opportunities, contract manufacturer Aequs is set to strengthen its aerospace manufacturing capabilities, expand consumer segment footprint as well as set up an MRO this year.

The company will also ramp up manpower by around 1,000 people in the financial year ending March 2026, according to its Chairman and CEO Aravind Melligeri.

Aequs -- which provides vertically integrated product solutions for the aerospace and consumer goods industries, including high precision electronics components -- currently has around USD 120 million annual revenues.

Airbus, Boeing, Collins and Safran are among the aerospace customers of Aequs, which also has facilities in France and the US.

Elaborating on the future plans, Melligeri mentioned about expanding into the precision consumer electronics space and setting up the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) jointly with Canada's Magellan Aerospace Corporation in 2025. Initially, the facility will start with works for turboprop engines.

"Consumer electronics is also a field where we feel we can expand... consumer durables side, we initially focused on domestic market and now we will focus on the exports side," he said during an interaction here this week.

Aequs operates a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Belagavi, Karnataka that offers an end-to-end manufacturing value stream, including forging, machining, surface treatment and aero assemblies.

It is also the country's first notified precision engineering SEZ. At present, the company's aerospace vertical has around 1,800 staff and the plan is to add 300 to 400 more people this fiscal, Melligeri said.

Overall, Aequs expects to increase its overall manpower, which is currently around 4,000, by another 1,000 more people.

Melligeri said precision manufacturing is its core strength and added that on the consumer segment, "we are talking to some smart ring makers... it is a growing market".

According to him, 60-70 per cent of the value addition to the products is happening in the SEZ.

In financial year 2023-24, the company's aerospace segment raked in revenues of USD 100 million, accounting for a major chunk of Aequs' total revenues of around USD 120 million during that period.

"Apart from increasing the revenue, we are increasing the value add... aerospace business is profitable and Aequs group has a whole is profitable," Melligeri said.

For the aerospace vertical alone, the target is to increase the revenues to USD 500 million from the current level of USD 100 million in the five-year period.

Aequs along with Magellan Aerospace has a joint venture -- Aerospace Processing India Pvt Ltd (API) -- that provides chemical processing and surface treatments, among other works.

SQuAD Forge is a joint venture with France's Aubert & Duval from France that produces forgings from aluminium, titanium, steel, and superalloys.

Aerostructures Assemblies India (AAI) delivers small to medium complex sub-assemblies such as structural panels and fuselage doors for commercial aircraft.

AAI manufactures Airbus Plug-door & Over Wing Exit Door (OWD) assemblies for A321 neo planes.

About funding plans, Melligeri said the company has enough funds for now and if necessary, it will go for a rights issues to raise money.