PM Modi to lay foundation stone for HAL’s chopper facility in Tumakuru

Bengaluru, Dec 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's (HAL) chopper facility at Gubbi taluk in Tumakuru during the first week of January.

The PM will be inaugurating 103rd Indian Science Congress in Mysuru on January 3.

Press Information Bureau officials told OneIndia that the final date will be known on December 28.

The project sanctioned under UPA-2 government could not take off on time owing to legal hurdles linked to land acquisition.

HAL Chairman TS Raju said that the Company expects a threefold increase in the helicopter production in the next seven to 10 years.

"The Karnataka Government has allotted 610 acres of land in Tumakuru. In this green field facility, we have planned to take up manufacturing and MRO activities for Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and other rotary wing platforms.

These will lead to creation of supply hubs for sheet metal parts, machining and electrical looms. It will also create direct and indirect employment in the region," Raju had said in an email interaction.

HAL hopes to roll out the first flight-worthy chopper from this facility before 2019, provided the programme goes as per the schedule.

LUH has not made its first flight yet, though HAL had claimed that they would achieve it before end of this year.

Earlier estimates by the Company put the investment for Tumakuru at Rs 4,000 crore. During a media briefing in January this year, then HAL chairman RK Tyagi has said that the project will take-off within 24 months of foundation-stone-laying.

He had said that the first priority was to build a boundary wall spreading across 16 km. "There will be newer technology adoption, research and development. We will also need to create a township there for our employees as travelling from Bengaluru would not be viable," Tygai had said.

The Ground Test Vehicle of LUH had its successful maiden ground run last December.

OneIndia News