"We are in negotiations with a couple of South American nations for supplying Dhruv choppers. We hope to finalise the deals with these countries in a month. Two or three countries will be part of our export orders soon," HAL Chairman Ashok K Baweja said here today.
HAL is negotiating with Bolivia for delivery of five Dhruvs and with Venezuela for seven of the choppers in transport roles, and in Europe, it was discussing a deal with Turkey for supply of 17 of the Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs) in medical assistance roles.
India had made aviation history by concluding a $51 million deal with South American Republic of Ecuador for sale of 'Dhruv', amidst stiff competition from other helicopter majors Elbit, Eurocoptor and Kazan.
So far, the helicopter market had been dominated by US, European and Russian companies, but with the Ecuador deal, India joined a select group of nations with capability to bid for international contracts for choppers.
Despite coming close to bagging the first export order from Chilean armed forces two years ago, HAL had lost the bid due to "factors beyond their control", Baweja said.
But he had no regrets, as the Ecuador deal had turned the tide in favour of HAL, and Dhruv-a 5.5-tonne weight class multi-role, multi-mission helicopter-is making waves at international air shows in the recent times with the Indian Air Force (IAF) 'Sarang' formation flying team receiving huge attention.
