'Make in India' Resonates at Aero India

The five-day extravaganza Aero India 2015 ended on a high note at the Yelahanka Air Force station near Bengaluru with about three hundred thousand visitors descending on the venue over the five days. Attracted not just by military aircraft, but by other civilian aircraft and technologies as also the amazing aerobatics, the crowds loved every bit of it. Aero India is touted as Asia’s premier airshow though it may not be the event where billion dollar deals are announced. That is for Le Bourget, Farnborough, Dubai and even Singapore to outperform each other. Basically, these mega deals are related to commercial airlines. The tenth edition caught the attention of the world for more than one reason. Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the platform to announce to the world that India will become a co-partner, co-developer and co-producer and not just an importer of military hardware.

Launch Pad for ‘Make in India’ Campaign

Thus Aero India 2015 was a perfect launch vehicle for the Prime Minister for his pet project ‘Make in India’ and this theme reverberated during the five-day extravaganza. Modi had set the tenor for the show and afterwards. The fact that he inaugurated the show, a breakaway from tradition as normally the Minister of Defence does the honours, was testimony to the fact to the seriousness of the government to give further push to the ‘Make in India’ campaign.

Aero India had over 300 foreign firms vying with each other to align with the government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign as they eye the burgeoning multibillion-dollar Indian defence market. There were 295 Indian and 328 foreign companies showcasing their products and solutions. The Minister for Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, was also present at the show.

The United States with 64 companies had the largest presence at the event, in which 33 other countries took part. France was the second biggest participant with 58 companies, followed by the UK with 48, Russia with 41, Israel with 25 and Germany with 17, the organisers said.

Boundless Enthusiasm

But the enthusiasm from the Indian companies was boundless and they were already singing Modi’s ‘Make in India’ tune and they were making appropriate sales pitch with foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and we should see the fruits of such partnerships in the near future.The Prime Minister promised a conducive environment for manufacturers, including a discrimination-free tax system and asked foreign firms not to be just “sellers” but “strategic partners”.

Offsets and More

“We have introduced significant reforms in our offsets policy. I am acutely aware that it still needs a lot of improvements. We will pursue them in consultation with domestic industry and our foreign partners,” the Prime Minister said adding that he wanted the offsets policy not as a means to export low-end products, but to acquire state-of-the art technology and skills in core areas of activity.

Tata Group Dominates

Tata Group displayed its end-to-end design to manufacturing capabilities including a range of solutions in the defence and aerospace sector in areas such as design, engineering, programme management, manufacturing and product life-cycle management, among others.

The combined order book of Tata companies operating in the sector is over Rs. 10,000 crore and in 2013-14 alone these companies have invested over Rs. 320 crore in their respective businesses. Their expected revenue from the sector for FY15 is over Rs. 2,500 crore.

This year, nine Tata companies, namely Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division (Tata Power SED), Tata Motors, Tata Advanced Materials, Tata Steel (Specialty Steel business in Europe), Tata Technologies, TAL Manufacturing Solutions, Titan Company (Precision Engineering Division) and Tata Consultancy Services, exhibited.

Airbus ‘Recruitment’ Drive

The Airbus Group presented a wide range of products with cutting-edge technologies. These included commercial platforms, military aircraft/helicopters and radars. But the company was more excited about the ‘recruitment’ drive it organised at the show. In a unique initiative that could provide immense opportunities for talented engineers in India, the Airbus Group conducted a recruitment fair during the last two days. Airbus was looking for engineers with postgraduate degrees or more for positions in areas of avionics, structural analysis and repair.

Yves Guillaume, President, India, Airbus Group, said that strong footprint it had developed in India over the years will come to play while supporting the government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign.

“We have been used to partnerships in India as is shown by our long-standing collaborations with several Indian public and private companies as well as R&D organisations and academic institutions. We are enthusiastic about the ‘Make in India’ campaign and are ready to leverage our existing local partnerships and invest in new ones to make the most of it.

Boeing Features Commercial Airplanes

US aerospace and defence major Boeing showcased a broad range of aerospace products, demonstrating its ‘alignment’ with Narendra Modi Government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign. It also featured models of commercial airplanes such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 777X-9 and 737 MAX.

Pratyush Kumar, President of Boeing India, told reporters that the company is committed to strengthening strategic partnerships with customers, the government and industry aimed to support India’s economic expansion.

Embraer Displays the Phenom 300

Embraer had a Phenom 300 on static display. India is home to aircraft from all three of Embraer’s business units – Embraer Commercial Aviation, Embraer Executive Jets and Embraer Defense & Security. “India is the country in Asia-Pacific that has the widest portfolio of Embraer Executive Jets, from the Phenom 100E to the Lineage 1000, with 20 jets in operation,” said Claudio Camelier, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Asia-Pacific and Middle East for Embraer Executive Jets. “These business jets are used by a number of corporations, private charter services, individuals and government entities to increase travel efficiency. Its widespread appeal reflects the strength of our aircraft’s reliability, exceptional performance and comprehensive customer support.”

Narrow Escape

On the second day of Aero India, two Flying Bulls aircraft scraped each other in the skies, creating a scare for a short while. The two aircraft which were part of the Flying Bulls aerobatic team were damaged and luckily there was no casualty.

The two Zlin 50LX aircraft collided with each other at about 3:00 p.m. The single-seater, single-engine aircraft of the Czech Republic’s Flying Bulls team were breaking-away from their formation, when the lead plane registered OK-XRA/0071 flown by 66-year-old Radka Machova tipped over the aircraft of the left wing-man of the team Jiri Saller OK-XRC/0073, triggering a minor turbulence.

The two pilots quickly recovered from the unwanted developments, altered their flight path and landed safely on the runway and parked their aircraft. However, the right-side wing of the aircraft flown by Jiri Saller was damaged.

Breitling Wingwalkers, Show Stoppers

They ruled the skies and the crowds below watched in awe. They danced in the skies and the crowds below went ecstatic. Stealing the limelight at Aero India 2015 were the Breitling Wingwalkers. The beautiful Wingwalkers were atop the biplanes (with a safety harness), performing all kinds of acrobatics, mesmerising the nearly two lakh spectators that descended on Yelahanka Air Force station for the Aero India airshow.

The Breitling Wingwalkers are UK-based AeroSuperBatics who have been specialists in display flying for over 30 years and operate one of the best known and loved civilian air display acts in Europe. The wingwalking team has performed at over 2,500 different events successfully representing several large brand names in the form of very high profile sponsorship deals.

The team of Wingwalkers comprises Danielle Hughes (eighth season); Stella Guilding (sixth season); Freya Paterson (third season); Nikita Salmon (second season) and Lydia Beadle and Emily Guilding (both first season).