Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is planning to set up the country’s first aerospace unit in Hyderabad. This aerospace arm of Mukesh Ambani owned RIL is known as Reliance Aerospace Technologies Private Limited. Its officials have contacted the Andhra Pradesh government to provide land in or near Hyderabad to build this aerospace manufacturing unit.
“Reliance Aerospace Technologies contacted us with a request for allotment of land, equipped with an airstrip, in or around Hyderabad to test their equipment. We have identified two places on the outskirts of the city,” said a top government official. As a part of this request, the government has asked its officials to identify suitable land for Reliance. The government authorities have identified two sites in Hyderabad for Reliance. The preferred location for the energy giant will be a place attached with fully functional air strip. A place called Dundigal, where the Indian Air Force has an airstrip, is under consideration. A high level delegation from Reliance will visit the city in the coming week to finalize the location. According to analysts, Reliance is showing interest in Hyderabad because there is availability of abundant skilled manpower and also infrastructure required for high technology aerospace market. Hyderabad has HAL and other defense establishments from where Reliance wanted to grab manpower.
Reliance incorporated this new firm to enter into aerospace and defense market. This aerospace venture has a cash reserve of Rs 82,975 crore. It is registered with the Registrar of Companies and has also applied for a license with Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to design and develop equipment and components like airframe, engine, radars and many others for both civilian and military aircraft and helicopters. In order to come up with new strategies in the defense play, Mukesh Ambani is planning to invest about $1 billion in the aerospace field over the next three years. The company is also planning to recruit 2,000 engineers.
Reliance Aerospace Technologies Private Limited might plunge into manufacturing of supplies that are needed by its joint venture partner Boeing. This global aerospace giant has defense contracts in India worth billions. Apart from this deal, RIL had also partnered with Dassault Aviation in 2012, to enter defense and home land security sectors in India. Both these companies are in offset arrangement pact with RIL. According to the government’s defense procurement policy, the multi-national companies are bound to plough back to India a fixed percentage of the value of the contract they win from Indian defense.