India’s helicopter market grows 20% annually

New Delhi: India’s helicopter market has been growing 20 percent annually amid rapid growth in demand for offshore and luxury transportation in Asia’s third-largest economy, said Eurocopter India CEO Marie-Agnès Veve on Wednesday.
Eurocopter, which is eyeing to grab half of India’s civilian market by 2015, is expecting to sell 20 civilian helicopters worth $134.7 million in India this year, said Veve on the sidelines of an event to mark the formation of the Indian unit of the European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Company (EADS).
“The Indian helicopter industry has great potential for expansion, given the country’s expanding economy, its size and challenging terrain, as well as the industrial potential,” said Veve.
The helicopter manufacturer, which seeks to benefit from the rising wealth in Asia’s third-largest economy, is planning to set up an engineering center in the southern Indian city of Bangalore next year, along with the opening of a new commercial office in Mumbai, another important business city of India.
The total revenues of European company, which is the world’s largest helicopter manufacturer, in Asia grew by 58 percent in 2009 to $1.25 billion — 20 percent of the group’s total.
The EADS’s third-largest unit by sales — after top-ranked Airbus SAS, the world’s biggest maker of commercial aircraft, and the defense and security division, which makes missiles, combat planes and military electronics — plans to set up repair facilities across India with government-owned Pawan Hans Helicopter and Hindustan Aeronautics.
20/10/10 Walid Mazi/Arab News

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2010