IAF wants Indian private sector to manufacture aircraft

New Delhi: If the Indian Air Force has its way, then India could see a private consortium coming up for the first time in military aviation. Until now, military aviation business is dominated by the state owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne on Thursday said the air force was keen to exploit the Indian private industry for the programme to replace ageing Avro aircraft. "All the 56 Avros in service are scheduled to be phased out. IAF has given a proposal to MoD that they should exploit private industry in finding a replacement for these aircraft. The response has been positive," he said.
An official familiar with the programme said they had received the air force's suggestion and were deciding the final contours of the programme categorization - if it should be bought off-the-shelf from abroad, purchased from abroad with transfer of technology or be made by Indian companies. After the categorization is made, the tender would be issued accordingly.
According to market estimates, the entire Avro replacement programme would be in the range of about $3 billion (approx Rs 13,500 crore) with the IAF's requirement of about 60 planes.
02/09/11 Times of India

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Categories: New Sep 2011