Chennai: The first ‘made in India' helicopter cabin is ready to take off in the global skies. Manufactured by the Tata group in Hyderabad, the cabins have been fitted in the helicopters manufactured by the US-based Sikorsky.
“We need to just add cockpit and tail to the cabin, and the helicopter is ready to fly,” said Air Vice-Marshal (Retd) Arvind Walia, Regional Executive, India & South Asia, Sikorsky. The company is part of United Technologies.
The helicopter with cabin from India has been fitted into the S-92 helicopter of Sikorsky. It is to be delivered in the next few days to a global customer. “I do not know who the customer is,” he said.
Sikorsky operates two manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad. The Tata Advanced Systems is a helicopter cabin making venture with the Tata Group. In this, it owns 26 per cent stake.
The other company is Tara Aerospace Systems, which manufactures helicopters components. Around 5,000 components manufactured by Tara are fitted into the cabins, he said.
Expansion
Mr Walia said that company has asked the Tatas to increase production to three cabins a month in 2013 from the present two.
In India, Sikorsky has so far supplied six ‘executive transport' category helicopters to some of the commercial establishments in Mumbai. It has also supplied a helicopter to the Maharashtra Government. It is in talks with large offshore drilling companies, he said.
The company has also evinced interest in co-production of 200 helicopters along with the Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd. If selected, the next stage will be Request for Proposal, he said.
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