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M. Somasekhar

Hyderabad, July 2

Israel’s biggest aerospace company, the $3.5-billion IAI, is bullish on India. It has plans for a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), a 60-80-seater passenger jet aircraft, large software development and engineering centres, and a whole range of joint ventures with Indian industry and research and development (R&D) establishments.

The decision to locate the software and engineering centres, which would see substantial investments and employment to hundreds of professionals, has been taken and a final board approval is likely this year itself, according to the President and CEO of IAI, Mr Itzhak Nissan.

The fully-owned subsidiary companies most likely to be set up in Bangalore would be doing R&D work for both meeting the demands in India and back in Israel. A large number of aeronautical and software engineers would be recruited from India, Mr Nissan told Business Line in an interview here.

Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd (IAI), is also considering the manufacture of a 60-80-seater aircraft with an Indian JV partner, for which the talks are on with potential partners. Plans are to build a portion of the aircraft in India and ship it to Israel for final assembly, he said. The MRO venture is also under active consideration.

IAI, which is expecting to emerge a $5-billion defence major by 2009, employs over 17,000 people and has a spectrum of technologies and products in military and civilian space. It is looking at long-term engagement with the Indian Defence establishment and the civilian sector, the company’s top executive said.

With India opening up Defence production allowing 26 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment) and looking for collaborations in R&D and technology transfers, IAI sees a huge opportunity. Mr Nissan felt that increase in FDI participation to 50 per cent would make the partnerships easier and the transfer of intellectual property (IP) smoother.

The company has established a few joint development initiatives with Indian industry and R&D establishments. IAI has top class capabilities in missiles, radars, space launchers, electronic warfare, ships, satellites, civil aircraft,etc., said Mr Nissan, who was here as a Guest of Honour of the Aeronautical & Astronautical Societies of India at the international meeting on space transportation, inaugurated by the President, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Though the US is the top market, followed by Europe for the Israeli company, “We view India as a big emerging market. Already, we are working with the three defence services, the DRDO and the industry. We want to be a bigger partner in the coming years in the major hitech projects announced by the country”, he added.

IAI would be pursuing joint ventures starting from space technologies to missiles to fabricating sub-systems for radars, critical components for a range of important projects undertaken by the Indian defence establishment, by sub-contracting to Indian industry and building them here, Mr Nissan said.

In the immediate future, IAI plans to offer the latest unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), used for surveillance of remote and difficult areas to India. A demo of the ‘tactical UAV’, developed recently would be done in Chennai in September, after the monsoon for several State Government’s which have shown interest, Mr Nissan said.

In the Indian space programmes also IAI has got associated working closely with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the development of sub-systems for satellites.

IAI builds different types of satellites—sensor based spy satellites, communications and is launching satellites in the LEO orbit (low earth).

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