Looking at assembly of small aircraft, helicopters
BEML Ltd, the Bangalore-based defence PSU, today unveiled ambitious growth plans for its aerospace business division. The company, which formed Aerospace Manufacturing Division two years ago to foray into the aerospace domain as a diversification strategy, is looking at design and assembly of small aircraft and components for helicopters among others in the next 10 years.
“Business opportunities are vast in the Aerospace sector for everybody. To begin with we want to complement and support Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in their aircraft manufacturing business by manufacturing components. We have already set up a manufacturing facility in Mysore for aerospace components and are also setting up a new unit at the Aerospace SEZ near Bangalore international airport,” V RS Natarajan, chairman and managing director, BEML said. The company would invest Rs 400 crore during the next financial year to set up the manufacturing unit at Bangalore Aerospace SEZ, which will commence operations during 2012-13, he told Business Standard on the sidelines of Aero India 2011, here on Thursday.
He said, going forward, the company will carve out a separate company under BEML headed by a managing director to undertake its aerospace business.
“We have commissioned the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore to draw a second phase business plan for us. They will submit the report by end of March 2011 and the new business plan will be executed from April 1, 2012,” he said.
To begin with the company plans to set up a separate subsidiary for rail and metro business, which will be headed by a managing director during the next financial year. Later, it wants to have separate companies for aerospace, mining and construction and technology divisions, Natarajan said.
Natarajan said BEML will use the new manufacturing plant at Aerospace SEZ for sheet metal fabrication, precision machining and assemble sub structures for helicopters.
More From This Section
“If everything goes well as per our plan, we will graduate to manufacture of aircraft and helicopters from manufacturer of aggregates in the next 10 years,” he said.
BEML is already manufacturing and supplying ground support equipment such as
Aircraft Towing Tractor (ATT), Multi-purpose Weapon Loader (MPWL) and Crash Fire Tender (CFT). It also designs and manufactures aircraft/helicopter components and aggregates with service certification for design and manufacturing. BEML is also eyeing substantial business from the defence and civilian offset opportunities. It is currently in talks with two companies for a possible tie up.
Over the next three years, it expects to generate a business in excess of Rs 100 crore from the defence offsets and achieve at least Rs 1,000 crore by 2016-17, he added.
To begin with, BEML will manufacture gears for helicopters, jigs for aircraft structures, machining of aerospace components, fabrication of structural sub-assemblies for Su-30 aircraft and variety of ground support and ground handling equipment, he said.
The company, which is aiming at a turnover of Rs 4,200 crore this fiscal ending March 2011, has achieved a turnover of Rs 2,809 crore with a net profit of Rs 104 crore by end of January 2011.
The company is looking at a growth of 25 per cent to achieve Rs 5,000 crore turnover during 2011-12,BEML’s Natarajan said.