Three more aerospace, defence parks proposed around Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Telangana government is proposing to set up three more aerospace and defence parks on the outskirts of the city here over the next four years with an investment of Rs 2,500 crore and will shortly come out with a sector-specific policy, a senior official said on Friday.

"In the next four-year timeline, depending on the requirement, we are planning to have three more aerospace and defence parks around Hyderabad. The idea is to make Telangana a hub of aerospace and defence where all activities, including R&D, manufacturing, incubation, will be provided at one place," Arvind Kumar, the Telangana Industries and Commerce Secretary told reporters.

"We are hoping that in the coming years, Hyderabad becomes the aerospace and defence hub. So, whatever is the land and manpower requirement, we will be able to provide. As of now, we are envisaging three more aerospace and defence parks. If that is not sufficient, we will expand further in terms of area and in terms of numbers," he added.

The Aerospace Park in Adibatla Special Economic Zone here, which is spread over 500 acres, is already fully functional. Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) and their JV partners have set up facilities with Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin for the manufacture of helicopter cabins, aircraft and its components.

Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems have also announced a joint venture that will manufacture aero structures for aircraft, the senior official said. He added that 500 acres has been provided at Eliminedu in Ibrahimpatnam for setting up another aerospace park while two more parks will come up on the outskirts of the city here around the Outer Ring Road.

The secretary earlier announced the holding of the second edition of Defence and Aerosupply, a three-day global aviation conclave which will be held here from November 30.

"After this three-day workshop, we will form a sub- committee and work out sector-specific policy on aero supply and defence for Telangana. We have studied different incentives offered by neighbouring states to stay competitive," he said, adding that, based on last year's conclave deliberations, the first draft has been developed and is being fine-tuned.

"Since the conduct of the first Defence and Aero supply in November last year, we have got approximate investment of Rs 1,000 crore in aerospace and defence, which does not include (investments from) SMEs," Kumar said.

Telangana government is also planning to have a Training Academy for the skilling of engineers who can take up maintenance of aircraft in alliance with French-based Bordeaux Metropole.

"Recently, our team went to Bordeaux in France. They have such an institute. We are in touch with them and plan to have such a training academy here which will cater to the needs of all of India," Kumar said.

The upcoming three-day global aviation conclave will focus on next generation Technology, Innovation and Skills Development for coming up with solutions to myriad challenges being faced by the defence and aerospace industry, said Arvind Kumar and E Venkat Narasimha Reddy, Vice Chairman and MD of Telangana State Industrial Investment Corporation.

"With the changing global business landscape driven by innovation, the focus of the conclave will be on next generation technology and requisite skill development," they said.

The global conclave will be formally inaugurated on November 29 by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor ESL Narasimhan, they said.

The three-day event will see participation of firms like Sikorsky, Embraer, Thales India,

Finmeccanica/AugustaWestland, Airbus, Eurocopter, Dassault, UTC, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, and the IAMF (Israeli Aerospace Manufacturing Federation) Proxivision, Airborne Metals, among others.

The conclave aims to bring global companies with focus on technologies, high-end products and expanding their suppliers' base to explore new business opportunities in the

Indian market.

It will cover the India policy debate on Defence and Aviation, changes in defence procurement, public and private partnerships besides skill development and human capital for this emerging sector, they added.