BUILDING ON A GOOD START

Public-private partnership along with autonomy to both ISRO and private industry was a much needed push forward for higher indigenous content and encouraged initiatives for local material and software as a part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, says Surendra M Vaidya, Executive Vice President and Business Head, Godrej Aerospace

- Niranjan Mudholkar

Over the last decade, there has been a remarkable growth in the defence aerospace field, and today, the aerospace sector has become a major potential area for manufacturing activities in India. How do you look at the progress in this area, considering the `Make in India’ initiative?

The government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, as far as the aerospace and defence sectors are concerned, has certainly gathered momentum with the defence reforms, and Indian companies getting the opportunity to prove themselves through privatisation.

Some of the challenges constraining the growth of Indian aerospace industry are lack of raw materials being manufactured in India which meet global aerospace standards, non-availability of requisite machines and tooling, as well as absence of certification bodies, agencies for aerospace of international standards, etc. Therefore, currently the projects available to Indian manufacturers are low on technology and most of them are for structural assemblies and parts. This is a good start and larger volumes will be essential for getting the return on investment.

How has Godrej’s contributions impacted the sector over the years?