Will accelerate aircraft manufacturing, says HAL

After bouts of limited activity and financial problems, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said on Thursday that its current order books exceeds Rs 80,000 crore.

Speaking at a press conference at Aero India 2021, R Mahadevan, Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, said that the company’s order book before the Tejas order was about Rs 52,965 crore.

“With the addition of the recent Tejas order, the company’s order book crosses Rs 80,000 crore. Plus, we are expecting two more orders and that will be for the Light Combat Helicopter and the HTT-40 trainer coming up next year,” Mahadevan said, adding that the orders will push the company’s order book to well over Rs 1 lakh crore as per the company’s expectations.

At about 10.30 am on Thursday, the IAF formally issued its long-expected request for proposal (RFP) to the HAL for 70 of its HTT-40 turbo trainer. An additional and optional 38 aircraft are expected to be delivered upon the successful induction of the first batch of machines. The total deal is expected to amount to Rs 8,722.38 crore.

The PSU said its helicopter division in Bengaluru was presently busy manufacturing ALHs for the army, navy and coast guard and that the activity will continue for the next two years. “With the Light Combat Helicopter being signed, that will also come from there,” Mahadevan said.

“From 2024-25, the speed of our manufacturing will increase,” he added.

However, its biggest boon has been the formal handover of the government order of the Tejas Mark IA. As per the contract, the company has to deliver the first aircraft by March 2024, with the rest to be delivered within five to six years, although Mahadevan said the company hopes to shorten this delivery period by a year.

“The cost per Mark IA aircraft comes up to Rs 309 crore for the fighter version and Rs 280 crore per for the training version,” Mahdevan said, adding that the company will try to market the aircraft for export at the same prices.