business

Updated: Mar 01, 2018 16:30 IST

The Telangana government has sought the support of the NDA government at the Centre in setting up a defence electronics incubator proposed to be set up in Hyderabad.

Telangana minister for IT and urban development K T Rama Rao was speaking after the inauguration of Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited, a joint venture of Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems at Adibatla aerospace special economic zone on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster, Tata Emeritus Chairman Ratan Tata, Boeing Executive Vice President Leanne Caret and officials of Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) and Boeing.

The 14,000 square meter facility will employ 350 skilled workers. It will be the sole global producer of fuselages for AH-64 Apache helicopter delivered by Boeing to its global customers including the US Army.

The facility, set up in 13 acres at a reported cost of Rs 200 crore, will also make secondary aero-structures and vertical spar boxes of the combat helicopter.

Stating that Telangana is leveraging its strength in aerospace and defence, KTR said the state was looking forward to setting up an exclusive centre for innovation in this sector also. “Telangana is a hotbed for innovations, which include the largest defence manufacturing ecosystem and largest technology incubator T-Hub. We are currently focussing on setting up India’s largest prototyping facility called T-works,” he said.

He expressed happiness over Boeing choosing Hyderabad as the preferred destination. He said while the facility would manufacture aero-structures for the Apache helicopters, it would take a step forward and manufacture a full-blown aircraft in the future.

Boeing and Tata signed the agreement to develop this facility in 2015, followed by ground breaking ceremony in June 2016.