Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited helicopter factory in Tumakuru, Karnataka, on Monday, the country’s largest chopper manufacturing facility.
Officials said that HAL, headquartered in Bengaluru, plans to produce more than 1,000 helicopters weighing 3-15 tonnes at this facility in Gubbi taluk over a 20-year period, with a total business of more than Rs 4 lakh crore.
The 615-acre factory, for which the Prime Minister laid the groundwork in 2016, would initially produce Light Utility Helicopters (LUH).
It will allow India to meet its entire helicopter requirement without importing them, providing a much-needed boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in helicopter design, development, and manufacturing, they said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, and senior Ministry of Defence officials were among those in attendance.
“It is a dedicated new greenfield helicopter factory that will improve India’s capacity and ecosystem for building helicopters,” Singh explained.
Karnataka’s assembly elections are scheduled for May.
PM Modi unveiled the LUH, which has already flown. The LUH is a three-tonne class, single-engine multipurpose utility helicopter that was designed and developed in-house. According to the Defense Ministry, the factory will initially produce around 30 helicopters per year and will gradually increase to 60 and then 90 helicopters per year.
Other helicopters, such as Light Combat Helicopters (LCHs) and Indian Multirole Helicopters, will be manufactured at the factory (IMRHs). In the future, it will also be used for LCH, LUH, Civil Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), and IMRH maintenance, repair, and overhaul.
Potential civil LUH exports will also be catered for by this factory, which will be outfitted with cutting-edge Industry 4.0 tools and techniques for its operations, according to officials.
The factory’s proximity to existing HAL facilities in Bengaluru will boost the region’s aerospace manufacturing ecosystem and support skill and infrastructure development, such as schools, colleges, and residential areas, it was noted.
According to officials, the factory is fully operational following the installation of facilities such as a heli-runway, flight hangar, final assembly hangar, structure assembly hangar, air traffic control, and various supporting service facilities.
