Karnataka, the home of India’s aerospace industry, has a strong framework providing all requisite resources for this industry – research and development capabilities, leading information technology and engineering services, manufacturing expertise with global firms located in the state and a huge pool of skilled manpower. While Bangalore is the natural destination for all players in the aerospace industry, the country’s first aerospace SEZ has been set up in Belgaum in November, 2009.

There is a proposal to set up an Aerospace SEZ in a 250-acre space in Devanahalli, near the new airport in Bangalore. There is also a proposal to set up a Defence Manufacturing Hub over 500 acres in Chellakere Taluk in Chitradurga district, adjacent to the HAL’s 200 acre component manufacturing site. Further, with the IT giants like Wipro, Infosys and Voit of Germany getting into software and intelligent applications related to the Sector, there’s more opportunities waiting to be harnessed.

As the home of the aerospace industry in India, Karnataka scores high on every part of the ecosystem of the aerospace and defence industry. This is amply demonstrated by the fact that the state hosts the first aerospace SEZ in the country and is set to leverage its strengths to become the aerospace hub of the region.

At the basic level of raw materials needed, Karnataka is an important producer of aluminium, a critical raw material input for the aerospace industry. The Belgaum unit of Hindalco houses an alumina plant, a world-class research centre for alumina, and a carbon paste and block plant. The alumina plant started operating in 1969 with an initial capacity of 75,000 tpa of alumina hydrate. It currently produces around 380,000 tpa. Since the 1990s the plant has become predominantly an export-oriented unit of metallurgical alumina, while producing several grades of special aluminas and hydrates for non-metallurgical applications, like refractories, ceramics, polishing, fire retardant plastics, alum, zeolite, etc. Over the years, the plant has expanded its capacity of speciality products to around 138,000 tpa, with approximately 120 different grades, serving more than 600 customers across 35 countries.

It is also the third-largest producer of steel in the country, providing location advantage to the auto and engineering industry in the state. There is a concerted effort by the state to raise the capacity of power generation in the state to cater to the growing demand of industry. In last 4 years, 16 power projects are approved in the State which would add 10,760 MW power to the State grid in near future. Solar power projects are also been planned in Belgaum and Raichur districts. At the same time, connectivity is being improved upon by expanding airports, road and rail network and upgrading ports on the coast.

With experience for more than six decades, the state has built up considerable resources and talent pool that is available to all companies working in the aerospace sector. At the very base of the aerospace industry lies research and development and engineering design, capabilities that are well developed in the state through its pool of skilled technical manpower, backed by presence of internationally renowned institutions – HAL, DRDO, ISRO, NAL, IISC – all based in Bangalore. More global manufacturers are comfortable outsourcing to India, particularly Karnataka, because of the presence of electronic and technical skills and fluency in the English language.

Add to this the fact that Bangalore, as the IT capital of the country, brings with it a concentration of the best IT capabilities – Karnataka has the highest number of CMM Level 5 certified software companies providing solutions to the aerospace industry. The IT industry brings to aerospace the high technology capabilities that are vital for cost reduction. As explained by Infosys, older aircraft in general suffer from a problem of over-design, done to meet safety and other regulations that result in extra metal weight, higher fuel consumption etc. Software and engineering expertise works to innovate to create new tools and solutions that obviate such over-design and yet ensure the same levels of safety. Such design changes have been effected by Infosys for almost all recent commercial aircraft programmes, including business jets, and all parts of an aircraft, including landing gear, fuselage, wings, avionics, inflight systems, and electrical systems (an exception being the engine).

Further, Karnataka is the manufacturing base for all major auto firms and auto component manufacturers. High end technical support and suppliers experienced to handle complex orders matching global standards are therefore easily available in the state. QuEST Global, the company which has set up the country’s first aerospace SEZ in Belgaum, points out its capabilities in the aerospace sector in the flowchart below, characteristics that are replicated in other firms operating out of the state.

Creating an enabling environment is the goal of the state’s investor friendly and responsive government, which has put in place policies to assist investors at every step – upgrading infrastructure, providing easy availability of land through its Land Bank, setting up the country’s aerospace SEZ etc. There are many challenges ahead – ensuring a steady stream of manpower to meet the growing requirements, ready availability of raw materials, complex tax system – which the government is working towards mitigating.