A talk by former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 1991 as head of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on the need to reduce import dep­endence for components req­uired in the aeronautical industry changed the focus of R. Sundaram’s industrial unit in Salem, Tamil Nadu.

“During an aviation seminar in Bangalore, Kalam stated that more than 80 per cent of the aeronautical components required by the industry are being imported. That meeting influenced me to take up aeronautical components production,” says Sundaram, managing dir­ector of Tamil Nadu-based Aerospace Engineers Pvt Ltd, a Rs 30 crore turnover company which is in the process of setting up a second unit with a British company as joint venture partner.

Declining to reveal the partner for the expansion, Sundaram says the joint venture, which is being registered in Texas, will involve setting up an assembly unit and help in penetrating the US market. The company, which is the 2014 winner of the central government’s innovation award in the micro and small...