'Tata-Boeing' Aerospace facility for manufacturing Apache helicopter fuselages opens in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Boeing, a renowned company engaged in manufacture of fighter jets and helicopters, has started a manufacturing facility in Hyderabad in collaboration with the Tata group. This Tata-Boeing joint venture project has been implemented in Hyderabad and will manufacture fuselages of the Apache attack helicopters.

The fuselages of the ‘AH-64’ attack helicopters will be manufactured in Hydereabad. These Boeing helicopters are in great demand all over the world. The fuselage manufacture will be exclusively done in India. With the growing demand for the ‘AH-64’, the graph of Indian exports also will rise.

The ‘Tata Advanced Systems Limited’ will represent the Tata group in the Tata-Boeing partnership. This company has floated a new company called the ‘Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited’ in partnership with Boeing. The new company will manufacture the helicopter fuselages in India. The Tata and Boeing joint venture project was inaugurated on Thursday. The project was inaugurated in the presence of the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Telangana Minister for Industry and Commerce, K.T. Rama Rao. US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster, Chairman of the Tata group, Ratan Tata and Boeing Defence CEO Leanne Caret were also present.

Attempts are being made to give impetus to defence equipment manufacture in India. Under this initiative, foreign companies are encouraged to bring their manufacturing projects to India. India has adopted a policy to allow more and more foreign investment for this. It is a part of these efforts that the Tata-Boeing project has been implemented here.

The Boeing ‘AH-64’ helicopter manufacturing project is spread over an area of 14,000 square meters. This has created employment for 350 skilled workers. This will be the only fuselage manufacturing facility in the world for ‘AH-64’ helicopters.

Many countries around the world have deployed the ‘AH-64’ helicopters in their military and air force fleets. The US army is said to be the main customer for these helicopters. ‘Tata Boeing Aerospace Ltd.’ has said that other important components of the ‘AH-64’ multipurpose helicopter, other than its fuselage, will also be manufactured at the facility.

After the inauguration of the Tata Boeing Aerospace, Defence Minister Sitharaman congratulated the promoters and wished them luck. The Defence Minister expressed confidence that there is a lot of impetus given to the manufacturing of defence equipment in India, since 2014.

The partnership agreement for this Tata-Boeing joint venture was signed in 2015. Subsequently, the project construction started in the year 2016. As per the planning, the project has been inaugurated in two years’ time. The company has said that the work on the ‘AH-64’ fuselages will be undertaken expeditiously and the first fuselage would be delivered in this year itself. Along with this manufacturing project, Tata-Boeing’s joint venture ‘Aerospace‘ also intends to create a skilled workforce required in the industry. While speaking at the function, President of Boeing India Pratyush Kumar said that ‘Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited’ is only the beginning of the expected partnership with India. Pratyush Kumar also said that this project is an important step for the future increase in the partnerships for defence and aerospace manufacturing. As of today, there are more than 2,300 Apache helicopters deployed around the world. 16 countries are using the ‘Apache Helicopters’ for their defence forces. India has also entered into an agreement with Boeing for the purchase of 22 ‘AH-64E’ helicopters. As per the agreement signed in 2015, Boeing is scheduled to deliver these helicopters to India from 2019.