The Hindu Business Line : Hind Aeronautics’ MRO hits the brakes

Bangalore, Dec. 23 The economic downturn across sectors has not exactly hit Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd but has put its planned civil aircraft repair project or MRO on the backburner.

The company had planned to use part of the Bangalore’s old airport site as a facility for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of commercial aircraft. The 50-year-plus HAL airport is largely idling since May 2008, when the new airport opened at Devanahalli; it now caters to military, test flights and small chartered aircraft.

“We had made out a plan (for the MRO project). Because of the serious recession in the aviation sector, we will start investing when it is viable (again),” Mr Ashok Baweja, HAL’s Chairman, said on the sidelines of an event to mark HAL’s 68th year of formation on Tuesday.

“There is no impact (of the recession) on HAL’s orders,” he quickly clarified. The order book stands at Rs 57,000 crore.

FIGHTERS & COPTERS

Among its upcoming projects are the fifth generation fighter aircraft being pursued jointly with Russia’s United Aricraft Corporation. Mr Baweja said he signed a general contract agreement with UAC in Delhi on Monday.

The 50:50 project first inked between the two governments a year back, he said, would warrant huge investments.

The defence PSU has also started early work for designing and developing light and medium utility helicopters for the Armed Forces. HAL has been looking for a foreign partner to make both these aircraft over the next 6-7 years. Mr Baweja said some of these may see results during the Aero India 2009 coming up in February in Bangalore.

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