After aircraft parts and toys, Karnataka-based Aequs now eyes engine components

Every time one boards an aircraft or buys a superhero figurine sold by global toy brands, chances are that some of its parts are crafted in Karnataka.

Regions known respectively for scant rainfall and being home to classical singers -- Koppal and Belgavi -- have emerged as hubs for contract manufacturing of toys and aircraft components over the past decade.

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Aequs, a contract manufacturer of aerospace components, toys and consumer durable goods, is now venturing into the aircraft interiors sector -- so far the domain of China.

"Till now, it has been happening mostly out of China, and today we have an opportunity to start doing it out of India because we are able to compete on a high volume," Aequs Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Aravind Melligeri told PTI in an interview.

"It is a whole another opportunity. It is a $10 billion market, going to $20 billion-interiors market in the next 10 years," he added.

A typical aircraft has anywhere between three lakh to three million unique parts. Aequs manufactures about 2,000 such components at its aerospace special economic zone in Belgavi in northern Karnataka and supplies those to leading companies such as Airbus and Boeing.

"Today, every aircraft made in the world has a part made in our aerospace cluster in Belgavi. That much I can assure," Melligeri said, adding that Aequs supplies window frames, doors, overwing emergency exit doors, landing gear components, actuation components, wing components and fuselage components.

Aequs is also exploring opportunities in engine components for aircraft and would like to expand in this sector, he said.

According to industry insiders, aircraft manufacturers source the various components from contract firms across the globe, most of these located in countries such as Canada, US, Germany and France. The contract manufacturers further rely on tier-1, tier-2 and tier-3 suppliers to source materials for aircraft parts.

With global toy brands looking beyond their suppliers in China, Melligeri's Aequs grabbed the opportunity to leverage its aerospace machining skills to make toys, which also require a similar talent pool.

Melligeri said the toy cluster in Koppal, a backward district in Karnataka, came about after enquiries by a global toy brand for contract manufacturing.

Land prices were quite lower than other parts of the country and there was a ready pool of labour in Koppal that could be trained for employment in the industry.

"I see a clear opportunity to go to a billion-dollars-a-year of manufactured toys. Every million dollars of revenue generates 100 jobs. If you are talking a billion dollars, you are talking of the creation of 1,00,000 (one lakh) jobs. That is what India can use. This is unskilled hinterlands in deep-down villages where jobs are created," Melligeri said.

Making a strong pitch for the production-linked incentive scheme for the toy sector, he said India has the cost advantage over global toymakers such as China, Vietnam and Thailand and a ready pool of skilled labour and technological expertise.

The toy cluster manufactures outdoor toys, vehicles, playsets and superhero figurines for global brands such as Hasbro, among others.

The company has also ventured into the consumer durables sector and manufactures cookware and home appliances for major brands at a dedicated cluster in Hubbali, said Melligeri.

Availability of talent has never been an issue for any of its businesses, given the number of engineering colleges in the vicinity of Belgavi.

"Today, we can take students fresh out of school and train them completely as aerospace engineers. That is the level of capacity we have built for our training programmes," Melligeri said.