Aircraft Industry in India: An Apprisal
30 Dec, 2000 · 444
Wg Cdr NK Pant carries out a survey of the Indian aircraft industry and suggests disinvestment
The disinvestment wave currently manifesting the corridors of financial and economic governance in
New Delhi
seems to have totally bypassed the holy cows of the burgeoning defence public sector units such as the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Paradoxically, the company then known as the Hindustan Aircraft Limited, was established in colonial
India
’s private sector in December 1940. Though it had aircraft production on its agenda but considered it profitable to resort to repair and overhaul of the military aircraft during the Second World War. Subsequently, the exigencies of war forced the then British rulers to nationalise the company and for subsequent governments in Independent India wedded to socialism, it was perhaps an anathema to restore it to original owners. Hence, it rightfully remains one of the large defence PSUs.
Russia
,
UK
,
Germany
and
France
. It also looks forward to the serial production of long delayed new generation Advance Light Helicopter (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) in near future. The company has excelled only in the field of the screwdriver technology in addition to functioning as a large overhauling and repair agency for aircraft. Its proven capabilities are presently limited to collaborative arrangements with foreign aerospace concerns in the field of aircraft production as it has proved to be incapable in developing on its own a single combat or transport plane for military and civilian use during the last 60 years of its existence. The IAF on its part has been projecting its requirement of a suitable advanced jet trainer (AJT) for last two decades which should have been sufficient time for any competent aeronautical company to successfully design and produce such an aircraft.
Bangalore
,
Kanpur
,
Hyderabad
,
Nasik
, Koraput, Korwa and
Lucknow
, HAL has been termed as a white elephant. Its annual value of production is estimated roughly Rs 2000 crore and the armed forces are perennially on the look out for their operational requirements of aircraft and aviation equipment from the suppliers abroad. In the recent past the company had toyed with the idea of integrated development of a medium sized transport aircraft for the armed forces as well as the civil aviation purposes. In fact in 1996, the then Prime Minister Deve Gowda had publicly announced in Bangalore that the country would herald its entry into civil aviation in a big way by developing and manufacturing 50 and 100 seater aircraft to be produced by HAL. Alas! even after the lapse of four years, the project is yet to take off from the drawing board stage.
India
has certainly a long way go to showcase its civil and military aviation hardware at a time when there are huge business opportunities not only within the country but also in the friendly nations of the third world
In the early fifties, HAL had designed and produced a two seater piston engine HT-2 basic trainer aircraft which had been the backbone of IAF’s ab initio flying training for many years. This was followed by development of a few light aircraft and trainers such as Pushpak, Krishak and Basant for flying clubs, Air Observation Post duties in the Army and agricultural spraying. Later versions of included Kiran basic jet trainers, HPT-32 aerobatic trainers and HTT-34 turbo prop trainers. HAL also developed airframe of a supersonic ground attack fighter named HF-24 but could not find a compatible power plant for the same. Later, the twin engine aircraft did enter the squadron service in the IAF with under-powered engines only to be phased out a couple of years later.
The PSU mostly confined itself to the licensed production of a variety of combat and transport aircraft besides light helicopters for mainly a large captive market of the IAF and other services. The organisation has been manufacturing MiG-21, MiG-27 and Jaguar combat planes, HS-748 and Dornier-228 transport aircraft in addition to Chetak and Cheetah helicopters under licence from
With approximately 35,000 strong manpower employed in various plants at
There will surely be no compromise with the national security if the doors of this mammoth defence PSU are opened for disinvestment. The defence minister and the three service chiefs have, off and on, talked of participation of private corporate sector in government controlled defence industry. It will indeed be a bold step in right direction if the nation’s large and reputable industrial houses are afforded the opportunity to own a sizeable portion of HAL’s share holding. This will infuse not only much needed funds for design and production of new aircraft for civil and military use but the company will also be able to tap the best brains in the field of management and technology in order to lead it towards greater heights in performance and growth. The sophisticated nature of aeronautics industry makes it a mirror of a nation’s multifarious advancement in field of modern technology and
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