ENARADA, London/Bangalore, July 15, 2014
Most of the industries in the United Kingdom would be interested to partner in the Regional Civil Aircraft programme with HAL was the message given by Ms Carole Sweeney, Director of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI).
She assured the HAL delegation at a business meeting at on-going Farnborough International Air Show (July 14 to 20) that UK industries would do their best in their known areas of expertise and skills if given an opportunity and they will play a critical role in the success of the programme.
Dr. R.K. Tyagi, Chairman, HAL, Chairman, said RFP would soon be issued for the engine of the aircraft as 11 bidders have already responded to the recent RFI issued for the 70-90 seater civil aircraft engine. The aircraft would be manufactured in India with an expected roll-out by 2022. The UK industries will have their opportunities, he added.
Dr. T. Suvarna Raju, Director, D&D of HAL, gave the outline of the project. “In the initial period we expect around 400 aircraft to be produced. This is conservative estimate and the potential is much more considering that India has 450 airstrips and more cities would be linked with air travel in future”, he added.
HAL and National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) have taken the lead to build this aircraft on PPP model. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is being formed by HAL and NAL to steer this project.
Some of the key representatives from UK industries such as ADS Group, Aircraft Research Association, Cobham, Cranfield University, Meggitt, Rolls Royce, Stirling Dynamics, Ultra Controls, UTAS, UKIBC were present in the meeting. “Many more who are not present in this meeting would be interested to be part of this project”, said Ms. Sweeny. She welcomed HAL’s idea of holding a technical workshop on the subject in near future to understand the subject in detail.
