BENGALURU: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that defence industry plays crucial role in the economic development of the country and he lauded the significant contribution of organisations like HAL that has helped India leapfrog six places to become the fifth largest economy in the world.
After inaugurating the new Light Combat Helicopter Production Hangar in HAL Complex at Bengaluru he said, in the last five years, India has made significant progress towards manufacturing military equipment indigenously under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The annual projected defence deal will double up by 2024 and the same has been pegged at `35,000 crore from `17,000 crore, he said.
Commending HAL for being the backbone of the Indian Air Force and meeting the requirements of the Armed Forces he says, “The HAL has excelled both in operations and finance in the last five years. It has achieved operational clearance on seven platforms, including Light Combat Aircraft and Light Combat Helicopter, and overhauled platforms like Hawk and SU 30 MKI.”
He appreciated that HAL had a turnover of `19,705 crore till March 2019 and it gave shareholders a healthy dividend of 198 per cent. Noting that HAL is now facing stiff competition from private defence industries, Singh urged the DPSU to take this changing environment as a challenge and grab the opportunities to increase their competitiveness in the international market.
He conveyed best wishes to HAL for its future projects in the field of fixed wing and rotary aircraft, hoping that the DPSU will lead India in civil aircraft business too.
CMD R. Madhavan said, LCH is completely ready for operational induction and the Helicopter Complex is fully geared up for its production. He added that the new production hangar will augment the LCH production capacity to reach a peak production of 30 helicopters per year.
HAL also apprised Raksha Mantri on the progress of new design and development programme of indigenous Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH). The full-scale mock-up was showcased to Rajnath Singh. The IMRH is proposed as replacement to the existing medium lift helicopters such as Mi17’s, Kamovs and Seakings which will phase out in the next eight to ten years.
LCH is a 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and developed by HAL.
It is powered by two Shakti engines and inherits many technical features of the Advanced Light Helicopter. LCH has the distinction of being the first attach helicopter to land in Forward Bases at Siachen, 4,700 mts above sea level with 500kg load.
