After years of being criticised for below par performance, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited or HAL, India’s prime aerospace manufacturing company is beginning to pull up its socks and is making earnest attempts to fulfill expectations from its prime customer, the Indian military and the Ministry of defence. The government’s recent emphasis on achieving self-reliance in defence and particularly in making the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas an acceptable addition to the Indian Air Force fighter fleet, has given a new impetus to HAL It wants to be a full spectrum technology company and not just a licensed manufacturer as it has been for years.
It wants to create and own IPs, wants to collaborate with the emerging private companies in the Indian defence sector, be part of India’s quest to be a defence platforms’ exporter and undertake crucial research and development for futuristic products. Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, CB Ananthakrishnan, talking to Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale in this episode of On the Shop Floor, elaborates on how HAL is ramping up its production capacity to meet growing demand, the company’s plans to make LCA Mark II planes and also be part of the AMCA project in the coming decade besides strengthening its rotary wing division to serve the Indian armed forces and also become a major exporter to the world.
