Ratan Tata to head helicopter joint venture

Farnborough: Ratan Tata, head of the Tata group, is set to be the chairman of the country’s first private helicopter assembly line, Indian Rotorcraft Ltd.
The firm is a joint venture (JV) between holding company Tata Sons Ltd and Italy-based Finmeccanica SpA’s helicopter unit AgustaWestland. The Tata group has a 74% stake.
“He was kind enough to become the chairman of the JV,” Giuseppe Orsi, chief executive of AgustaWestland, said in an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing Farnborough airshow in the UK. “This decision has recently been made and is likely to be implemented (soon).”
Orsi will be co-chairman.
State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is the only other helicopter maker in India. Another Tata group company, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, has a joint venture with Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of US-based United Technologies Corp., to assemble helicopter cabins in India. The venture was announced in November.
Indian Rotorcraft’s plant, to be set up in Hyderabad, will manufacture AgustaWestland’s eight-seat utility helicopter AW119, which will be rolled out by the end of 2011 or early 2012. The facility can also cater to military requirements if the need arises, Orsi said.
21/07/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Categories: Farnborough airshow 2010, Foreign Jul 2010, Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2010, New Jul 2010