Karnataka   

Aerospace SEZ launched in Belgaum

Bangalore: The country’s offset programme, which requires overseas suppliers of Defence equipment to source a portion of their contract from domestic sources, is resulting in the modernisation of the aerospace industry in India, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel has said.

Mr. Patel was speaking at the inauguration of the country’s first Special Economic Zone dedicated to the aerospace industry at Hallargi, 37 km from Belgaum, on Saturday. The SEZ is promoted by Quest Global, an aerospace engineering and manufacturing company.

Mr. Patel said the “boom” in civil aviation, which had resulted in a significant expansion of the fleet of Indian carriers, had provided a fillip to the Indian aerospace industry. Belgaum, which was “being upgraded, would be reconnected by air services within three months”. The upgrading of the Mangalore airport would be completed in a few months, he added.

Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa said the SEZ complex, spread over 300 acres of land and undertaken at an investment of Rs. 150 crore, “is the first ever in a rural area”.

Of the 52 SEZs cleared, 17 were operational in the State, generating 59,000 jobs. The investment in SEZs in the State amounted to over Rs. 9,000 crore. The Government was creating a land bank of 50,000 acres to provide land for industrial use, he said.

Quest Global signed three memorandums of understanding with three international aerospace companies: Societe Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aeronautiques (SABCA), a Belgian company which is a supplier to Airbus; Magellan Aerospace Ltd., a Boeing supplier; and Farinia SA.

The SEZ houses an engineering services facility, a precision machining unit and Aerospace Processing India, a joint venture between Quest and Magellan, a processing facility, “which is critical for the industry”, according to Aravind Melligeri, co-founder and Chairman, Quest Global.

Mr. Melligeri said the establishment of “an aerospace ecosystem” at the facility would provide Quest’s partners the opportunity to fulfil their offset obligations. The site is “ideal” because of its proximity to the “precision engineering” facilities in Pune and other nearby locations. He said the company planned an investment of $500 million over the next 10 years to establish facilities for forging, castings and testing.

The company is planning to raise $50 million through private placement, which will be utilised for expanding engineering services.

Dinesh Keskar, president, Boeing India, said his company would benefit because its “tier 2 suppliers” could utilise the location for engineering and manufacturing components and parts.

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