TASL, GE set ball rolling for aero-engines component manu in Hyd

Hyderabad: Yet another aerospace manufacturing venture began taxiing for takeoff in Telangana, with GE and the Tata group on Monday announcing the ground-breaking ceremony for their world class structural Center of Excellence (CoE) focused on manufacturing aero-engine components for the global markets.

The greenfield manufacturing facility is coming up at the Tata Advanced Systems Ltd’s (

TASL

) campus at the Adibatla aerospace park and SEZ and is expected to be ready for operations by 2018 end, Tata group officials said.

The latest development is part of the strategic partnership signed in November 2017 between GE Aviation and TASL to join forces for manufacturing, assembling, integration and testing of aircraft components.

The COE will incorporate the latest technologies from GE and best manufacturing practices to deliver complex, high precision aero-engine components for the CFM LEAP engines, which are manufactured by CFM International, a 50-50 joint venture company between GE Aviation of US and Safran Aircraft Engines of France. The partnership will also set up an aero-engine precision machining training facility in Telangana to train the workforce in high-end manufacturing.

However, both GE and TASL refused to reveal the quantum of investment or the manufacturing capacities to be set up.

“Tata group’s partnership with GE will boost domestic manufacturing expertise, and enhance the group’s capabilities in the global aerospace industry. This investment will create highly skilled jobs and develop a high-end supply chain that will offer a globally competitive manufacturing ecosystem in India,” Banmali Agrawala, president, infrastructure and defence & aerospace, Tata Sons, said.

Welcoming GE to the elite list of marque players to have made Hyderabad their base, KTR said Hyderabad has two strong aerospace parks, five airstrips in and around the city as well as skilling academies to skill and upskill students and the local workforce so that the growing ecosystem can be ably supported by local manpower.

Lauding the Telangana government’s efforts in moving the needle on the ease of doing business in the state, GE’s South Aisa president and CEO Vishal Wanchu said: “Telangana is becoming the gold standard not only for defence and aerospace sectors but for other industries as well.”

Wanchu said the CoE is a clear demonstration of GE’s committment to `Make in India’ and the emergence of India, more particularly Telangana, as a manufacturing hub for high technology products like aircraft engines.

On the opportunities in commercial and defence space in India, Wanchu said India is one of the largest and fastest growth passenger traffic countries in the world. “By 2025, India’s projected to be the third largest commercial aviation market in the world and by 2030 the expectation is there will be about 1500 aircraft that are needed in the country to match the needs of growth that this country is exhibiting,” he said.