By Gulshan Luthra and Anil kumar
- HAL to Produce 1000 Helicopters over 20 Years at this facility
- Export of Civil Helicopters Envisaged
New Delhi/ Tumakuru, Southern India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Asia’s largest helicopter factory Feb 6 at Tumakuru in Karnataka, where HAL will shortly begin manufacturing Light Utility Helicopter and then expand to bigger Combat and Multirole machines like Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH).
Set up in the Bangalore-Chennai Industrial Corridor, the huge 615 acre facility will start manufacturing 3 to 5 tonne Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) for the three Services, and then produce machines to 15 tonnes. Its initial target is to produce 30 helicopters a year, but gradually step up to 60 and 90 later, eventually making an estimated 1,000 machines over a 20 year period, mostly for defence.
Export of civilian variants is envisaged.
Factory a Milestone Towards Atamnirbharta
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Narendra Modi, who had laid the foundation stone of the factory in 2016, observed India had to be self reliant (Atmanirbhar) in defence manufacturing to strengthen the Armed Forces, which are already using hundreds of indigenous systems from Assault Rifles to helicopters, aircraft and aircraft carriers, and congratulated HAL for playing a pioneering, key role in India’s aviation skyline.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the HAL factory as a milestone in India’s defence and aerospace sector, and said the number of defence industrial corridors is going to be increased from the existing 4 to 10 across the country. And that the Government wants the region to be a global hub. The Tumakuru facility, some 70 km from the electronic city of Bangalore, or Bengaluru now, is located on the Bangalore-Chennai corridor.
India’s soldiers, scientists, engineers, machinists, technicians, MSMEs, individual innovators, start-ups, industrial workers and all other sections are contributing to national security and socio-economic empowerment of the country, he said admiring the talented people. Every citizen is behind the scene and supporting and encouraging them. The HAL Helicopter Facility is a proof of that collective resolve, Rajnath Singh said.
The Tumakuru factory is India’s one-stop shop for Design, Development and Manufacture, Service and Maintain all the helicopters in the country, those belonging to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Border Security Force (BSF) and other paramilitary institutions included.
HAL Tejas (Navy) Lands on INS Vikrant
In a related and coordinated development, the naval variant of HAL’s Light Combat Aircraft Tejas became the first fighter jet to land on India’s new indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, also Feb 6. It has taken HAL a couple of decades to mature this technology, and there have been several take off and landing trials on a small airstrip in Goa before finally landing the jet on the Carrier’s small deck. The Tejas Navy was flown by HAL Test Pilot Cmde Dahiya.
PM Unveils LUH
Dedicating the factory to the Nation, Modi took a walkthrough of the facility and structure hangar, and also unveiled a Made in India Light Utility Helicopter (LUH). He was accompanied by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, top MoD officials and HAL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) CB Ananthakrishnan.
The LUH is an indigenously designed and developed three-ton class, single engine multipurpose utility helicopter with unique features of high manoeuvrability.
Modi said Karnataka was a land of talents, from spirituality, knowledge and scientific values. Aircraft and drones are already made here, and his “Double-engine government has made Karnataka the first choice of investors” with a pledge for reducing foreign dependence for defence needs.
About HAL Helicopter Factory
The Greenfield Helicopter Factory is planned with a vision to become a one-stop solution for all helicopter requirements of the country. After initially producing LUHs, the factory will be augmented to produce other helicopters such as Light Combat Helicopters (LCHs) and Indian Multirole Helicopters (IMRHs). It will also be used for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul of LCH, LUH, Civil Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and IMRH in the future. Potential exports of civil LUH will also be catered to from this factory.
HAL plans to produce more than 1,000 helicopters in the range of 3-15 tonnes, with a total business of over Rs 4,00,000 crores over a period of 20 years. Besides generating direct and indirect employment, the Tumakuru facility will boost the development of surrounding areas through its CSR activities with large-scale community centric programmes on which the company will spend substantial amounts. All this will result in improvement in the people’s lives in the region.
The proximity of the factory, with the existing HAL facilities in Bengaluru, will boost the aerospace manufacturing ecosystem in the region and support skill & infrastructure development such as schools, colleges and residential areas. Medical and health care would also reach the community residing in the various nearby Panchayats.
With the establishment of facilities like Heli-Runway, Flight Hangar, Final Assembly Hangar, Structure Assembly Hangar, Air Traffic Control and various supporting service facilities, the factory is fully operational. This factory is being equipped with state-of-the-art Industry 4.0 standard tools and techniques for its operations.
This factory will enable India to meet its entire requirement of helicopters without import and giving much needed fillip to the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in helicopter design, development, and manufacture.
