Belgaum will be next aerospace centre, bets QUEST’s Melligeri

Bangalore is India’s aerospace hub, where the country’s military plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is based and the work on a homegrown plane and space research is centred. This, in turn, means the bulk of the vendors with the ability to make precision parts and systems for aeroplanes, are located around this city.
But for Melligeri, co-founder of Quality Engineering and Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd, or QUEST, an engineering services firm, the next aerospace manufacturing destination is Belgaum.
QUEST has set up a 300-acre special economic zone (SEZ) for aerospace manufacturing in the town bordering Maharashtra, around 500km from Bangalore, among the first such facilities to begin operations.
“Belgaum has a manufacturing culture. Historically it was the automotive backend for Pune,” says Melligeri. “It has over 300 foundries and machining shops. It is also a strategic location.”
Not everyone is buying the idea. A.K. Saxena, managing director of Navv Avia Technologies Pvt. Ltd, an aerospace consultancy, says the distance and skills needed for the aerospace industry will be an issue.
“They may be right. But the big names may not go to Belgaum because of the distance, they would prefer the known cities,” says Saxena, a former managing director of HAL.
For QUEST, which has invested Rs150 crore in the SEZ and three factories including a joint venture with Magellan Aerospace Ltd, a vendor for plane makers such as Airbus SAS and Boeing Co., being away from the big cities is an advantage.
“People are disciplined and there is enough talent to train,” says Melligeri. “At the end of the day, you don’t see an aerospace manufacturing facility in London or New York.”
26/10/09 K. Raghu/Live Mint

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2009, New Oct 2009