Telangana government has come out with a plan to make Hyderabad an aerospace manufacturing hub. The plan includes setting up of an AeroSkills Academy in association with Aerocampus Aquitaine of France, an incubation facility for companies in the field in collaboration with IIT-H, and an aerospace park.
This has been revealed by the officials of the state government in the ongoing Defense and Aerosupply-2015 Conclave. The plan is aimed at making Hyderabad a hub for defense and aerospace industry in India. Recently the state government entered into an MoU with Bordeaux Metropolis (France) for strengthening economic ties, especially in aeronautical engineering, bio-technology and IT and is now looking to meet the demand of skilled manpower for the high-precision industry through the Academy.
According to state IT minister T Ramarao, the state is ready to extend support in creating the entire ecosystem for the sector. He also assured the companies, coming forward to invest in Telangana that state would take up their issues, if any, with the central government as well. On the other side, Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) will start manufacturing aerostructures for AH-64 Apache helicopter from their facility being set up in Hyderabad. The announcement to this effect has been made by the officials of the two companies. The production begins with fuselages. The Telangana government agreed to allocate necessary land and extend all other support required for the facility which is coming up in aerospace Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Adibatla, near Hyderabad.
Pratyush Kumar, president, Boeing India, said the production of aerostrucures for Apache was only a beginning and slowly they would move towards developing advanced systems. He, however, refused to reveal the details of investment stating that the company would never make investment details public.
State IT minister T Rama Rao said the entry of companies like Boeing would be a big value addition for Telangana and would boost the state government’s efforts to make Hyderabad a hub of aerospace and defense. “There is no bigger name than Boeing in aerospace and defense and this joint venture will be help attract more companies,” he said. Pratt & Whitney, a leader in aircraft engine manufacturing, is also looking to expand its base in the city and set up something in human resource and training sectors, he added.
