Sam Manekshaw
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ campaign, aimed at making the country a manufacturing hub for foreign and domestic companies, is all set to get its biggest brand ambassador in the President of the United States of America. The cabins of the new set of ‘Marine One’ helicopters, for the US President’s exclusive use, will be made in India by Tata Advanced Systems, the sole global supplier of these airframes for the S-92 choppers, built by American aerospace firm Sikorsky Aircraft While these choppers are for the USA, firms like Sikorsky are eyeing the Indian market for helicopters, estimated, over the next 25 years, at $24 billion.
India is not a new sourcing destination for Sikorsky but while it is looking to set up base here, that could be some time away. Air Vice Marshal (retired) Arvind Walia, regional executive – India and South Asia at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp, believes foreign global equipment makers need to be allowed more direct equity participation before they see India as a manufacturing destination for finished products. “Hiking the FDI limit in defence to 49% is a welcome move but at that level a foreign partner will not have control,” Walia explained in an interview to FE asking “Why should an OEM (original equipment maker) share years of innovation and technology, worth billions of dollars, with a venture that it can’t control?”
While certain defence requirements, entailing mass production, could persuade equipment makers to bring production lines to India, those “numbers were not in play yet,” Walia said.
Nevertheless, Sikorsky expects the various requests for information(RFI), issued by the Indian armed forces and companies like Hindustan Aeronautics, to materialise into concrete contracts soon.
The Stratford, Connecticut-based company is looking at business worth $7-11 billion from India over the next ten years, Walia said.
Sikorsky, a unit of United Technologies Corp, won a $1.24- billion contract in May to build and deliver six new US presidential helicopters, a first step towards a new fleet of 21 choppers to be delivered by 2023.
Not just the cabins but also the various parts that go into building the airframes for the S-92 will be sourced from India through a company called Tata Sikorsky Aerospace Systems, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Sikorsky in which the latter holds 26%,Walia said. Both the facilities are located in Hyderabad.
“This will put India on the global map as a supplier of repute, providing world-class cabins for the S-92 choppers that will be used by the US President,” Walia said. “US Presidents, since Dwight Eisenhower, have been flying in the S-92, but it would be the first time that they fly in a helicopter with a cabin made in India.”
Cabin comfort for US president now made in India | The Indian Express
India is not a new sourcing destination for Sikorsky but while it is looking to set up base here, that could be some time away. Air Vice Marshal (retired) Arvind Walia, regional executive – India and South Asia at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp, believes foreign global equipment makers need to be allowed more direct equity participation before they see India as a manufacturing destination for finished products. “Hiking the FDI limit in defence to 49% is a welcome move but at that level a foreign partner will not have control,” Walia explained in an interview to FE asking “Why should an OEM (original equipment maker) share years of innovation and technology, worth billions of dollars, with a venture that it can’t control?”
While certain defence requirements, entailing mass production, could persuade equipment makers to bring production lines to India, those “numbers were not in play yet,” Walia said.
Nevertheless, Sikorsky expects the various requests for information(RFI), issued by the Indian armed forces and companies like Hindustan Aeronautics, to materialise into concrete contracts soon.
The Stratford, Connecticut-based company is looking at business worth $7-11 billion from India over the next ten years, Walia said.
Sikorsky, a unit of United Technologies Corp, won a $1.24- billion contract in May to build and deliver six new US presidential helicopters, a first step towards a new fleet of 21 choppers to be delivered by 2023.
Not just the cabins but also the various parts that go into building the airframes for the S-92 will be sourced from India through a company called Tata Sikorsky Aerospace Systems, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Sikorsky in which the latter holds 26%,Walia said. Both the facilities are located in Hyderabad.
“This will put India on the global map as a supplier of repute, providing world-class cabins for the S-92 choppers that will be used by the US President,” Walia said. “US Presidents, since Dwight Eisenhower, have been flying in the S-92, but it would be the first time that they fly in a helicopter with a cabin made in India.”
Cabin comfort for US president now made in India | The Indian Express
