Tata bid to take off in aerospace

Mumbai: The $70-billion Tata group is quietly building its presence in the aerospace industry that has recently seen significant investment from the private sector.
It is in the process of applying for licences from several central government ministries, predominantly the defence ministry, to sell helicopters that it plans to assemble at its joint venture with Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica’s AgustaWestland.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Tata Services Ltd resident director Bharat Wakhlu confirmed that the group had applied to the defence ministry as well as other government agencies for licences.
The Tata group and AgustaWestland decided in early 2009 to form a joint venture that would establish a plant to assemble the AW 119 helicopter — an eight-seater utility copter meant for both defence and civilian uses. The deliveries were supposed to start by 2011, but the deadline has since been pushed back by a year.
Sources said the joint venture was concurrently applying for licences as it went about putting up the assembly unit in Hyderabad. At the time the joint venture was formed, the production target was fixed at 30 units a year.
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has estimated that the Hyderabad-based greenfield facility of this joint venture is likely to entail an investment of $30 million.
The joint venture company, Indian Rotorcraft, will assemble and deliver these helicopters. It will target domestic as well as global customers.
04/07/11 Piya Singh/The Telegraph

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Categories: Foreign Jul 2011, New Jul 2011