NEW DELHI: An attempt by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited HAL ) to rope in the private sector for manufacturing a civilian helicopter has till now received a lukewarm response from the industry, given its abnormally high price tag and operating costs indicated by the public sector unit.The advanced light helicopter, currently in use by the armed forces, is being pitched by HAL as the next generation civilian chopper suited for the Indian market. The PSU has invited top Indian industries to put in their bids.However, any bid is yet to come in. Industry experts said high licence fee, with a reserve price of Rs 126 crore, and per unit price would make it one of the most expensive helicopters in its class in the world.Senior industry executives had met HAL and defence ministry representatives last month to sort out the matter, but sources said it would be difficult to make an economically viable pitch. At the center of the problem is HAL’s own indicative cost of about $11 million for manufacturing the chopper.“This will further go up when it is offered to the customer as the company will load in other costs, such as setting up the production line, paying licence and training fees to HAL and the 3.5% royalty that is being demanded,” a senior executive explained.The estimated operating cost of the chopper, as described by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, is Rs 2.1 lakh per flying hour. Interestingly, European and US competitors cost almost half of it.Also, a clause that only 90 helicopters can be built and all obligations to identify customers, setting up a production line and clearances from civilian authorities are being viewed as restrictions by the industry.The Indian civilian helicopter market is currently dominated by European and American players but no production line has yet been set up due to the lack of a large market.