The Hindu Business Line : Bell in talks with HAL, others to make commercial copters in India

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Bangalore Feb. 7 Bell Helicopter is in talks with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and other manufacturers in India to produce its B206 commercial copters and is planning to set up a training centre for pilots in the country.

Bell Helicopter's Senior Vice-President for business development, Mr Robert E. Fitzpatrick, told Business Line that HAL would also be the sole global manufacturer for tail rotor blades for B206 copters in a year. "We will phase out the other manufacturers who currently produce the tail rotor blades for us," he said.

Regulatory Issues

He said the company expected huge costs savings if B206 were produced in India. Currently, B206 costs around $1.2 million. There are around 6,000 B206s currently in operation globally. He said the manufacture of the B206 could be carried out in phases leading to its complete production in India.

He said one of the major issues which was hampering the growth of the helicopter business in India was the lack of pilots and mechanics. "Therefore we have floated request for information from potential companies which can partner with us in setting up a Bell training academy," he said. He also added that Bell was working with the Director General of Civil Aviation on certain regulatory issues, which does not allow helicopters to fly from any particular area and also prevents flying at low altitudes. "This is hampering the growth of the air taxi service in India," he said.

Copter Market

Mr Fitzpatrick said Bell currently has a backlog of 30 orders from Indian companies including 12 B429s, which cater to the emergency medical service. In India, Bell has a 56 per cent market share out of 137 helicopters currently under operation in the country. As per a survey conducted by the company, in another 20 years, the copter market will be of the size of $4 billion in India.

"We ourselves have grown 300 per cent during the last two years," he said. In 2006, Bell sold as many as 18 helicopters in the country. Bell has helicopters with prices ranging from $1.2 million to $9 million.