India Gearing Up To Become Chopper Manufacturing Hub
Geopolitics|October 2016

In the past, India has been spending several billions of dollars to purchase military helicopters for its armed forces. It is in the best interest of the Indian industry that it now plans to build helicopters in India and invest in indigenous development work for helicopters. A GEOPOLITICS REPORT

India Gearing Up To Become Chopper Manufacturing Hub

India is rapidly building capabilities to emerge as a preferred destination for manufacturing in the aerospace sector, particularly helicopters. India has skills and competencies in areas that include engineering and production. These capabilities have been recognised and harnessed by foreign companies outsourcing manufacturing work to India.

It is estimated that the Light Utility Helicopters market alone for Indian military would be an opportunity worth more than `20,000 crore. If you add another `50,000 crore worth of opportunities in the Medium- to Heavy-Lift helicopter category, the helicopter industry alone throws up a `70,000-crore opportunity over the next few years.

Between now and 2022, Indian military is expected to need over 1,000 helicopters in the cargo transport, surveillance and attack roles. Of these, the Indian Army is expected to look at acquiring nearly 500 helicopters, the Air Force about 350 helicopters and the Navy another 200 helicopters.

Of the Indian military segment requirements, the transport segment is likely to be about 55 per cent, the attack and specialised roles would be another 35 per cent and the rest would form the remaining 10 per cent of the demand. It is estimated that the military helicopter requirement in India is growing by seven per cent year-on-year and this trend is likely to only improve over the years. India is expected to spend about $20 billion on just military helicopters till 2022.

For this reason alone, the Indian helicopter industry for the military segment is witnessing unprecedented growth and this growth is being driven by state owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). HAL has played a major role in the defence aviation sector of India through its capabilities to design, manufacture and overhaul of military aircraft, ranked 34th in the list of world's top 100 defence companies.

This story is from the October 2016 edition of Geopolitics.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the October 2016 edition of Geopolitics.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM GEOPOLITICSView All
Future Of Space Militarization
Geopolitics

Future Of Space Militarization

GIRISH LINGANNA explains how the peaceful 'Space Race' has now been turned into Man's 'War-Fighting Domain'

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 2024
HIRE TO FIGHT IF YOU CAN'T
Geopolitics

HIRE TO FIGHT IF YOU CAN'T

Fearing interests among the young for a career in the military is increasingly becoming a global phenomenon.

time-read
4 mins  |
March 2024
Earth observation takes centre stage with NASA-ISRO collaboration
Geopolitics

Earth observation takes centre stage with NASA-ISRO collaboration

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has made clear the purpose of its upcoming joint mission with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – the Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite.

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2024
Chasing ambitious Martian dreams
Geopolitics

Chasing ambitious Martian dreams

India's space programme is poised for another giant leap with the planned Mars lander mission, tentatively scheduled for launch between 2028 and 2030.

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2024
HOME MINISTRY TOM TOM'S DRUG SEIZURE RECORD
Geopolitics

HOME MINISTRY TOM TOM'S DRUG SEIZURE RECORD

The Union Home Ministry highlighted the Modi government’s efforts in combating the drug menace.

time-read
1 min  |
March 2024
DRDO SUCCESSFULLY FLIGHT TESTS VSHORADS
Geopolitics

DRDO SUCCESSFULLY FLIGHT TESTS VSHORADS

DRDO conducted two successful flight tests of the Very Short-Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) missile on Feb 28th and 29th from a ground-based portable launcher off the coast of Odisha from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur.

time-read
1 min  |
March 2024
BEYOND BORDER-FENCING
Geopolitics

BEYOND BORDER-FENCING

The central government’s decisions to scrap the Free Movement Regime in the border areas of India and Myanmar and to fence the entire Indo-Myanmar border may do more harm than good, argues VAISHALI BASU SHARMA

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 2024
MINGLING-LIKE POMEGRANATE SEEDS
Geopolitics

MINGLING-LIKE POMEGRANATE SEEDS

The tremendous development on the Tibetan side of the Sino-Indian border, particularly the String of model villages’, and also the incredible infrastructure development needs to be closely watched in Delhi, with suitable measures taken to improve the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control, argues CLAUDE ARPI

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 2024
INDIA'S NEW NAVAL AIRBASE IN MINICOY ISLANDS
Geopolitics

INDIA'S NEW NAVAL AIRBASE IN MINICOY ISLANDS

India lost its foothold in Maldives, the smallest country in Asia, to Chinese overtures. But, not losing its hold in the Indian Ocean Region, the Indian Navy is building a naval air base in the Lakshadweep Islands group. The Indian Isles, located in the Arabian Sea, is just 507 kilometres from the Maldives and is seen as an alternative to the Maldives. RITU SHARMA reports

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2024
MISSION DIVYASTRA AND AGNI-VI
Geopolitics

MISSION DIVYASTRA AND AGNI-VI

The successor to Agni-V Mark-2 Agni-VI) is expected to have a range between 9,000 km and 12,000 km with a 3-tonne nuclear payload, and a strike range between 14,000 km and 16,000 km with a lighter 1.5-tonne package, writes AMARTYA SINHA.

time-read
10+ mins  |
March 2024