Known for wine, Nashik is the next aircraft manufacturing hub as HAL spreads wings

Nashik, India's wine capital, is set to emerge as the next hub for aircraft manufacturing in the country, with Bengaluru-based state-owned plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) preparing to activate new production lines for the indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) Mk-1A and Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40) planes to meet the Indian Air Force's growing requirements for fighter jets and basic trainers, senior officials aware of the development said.

- Rahul Singh

The new plant for the Mk-1As will enable HAL to advance the deliveries of the 83 such fighters ordered by IAF for ₹48,000 crore in February 2021 by at least a year, HAL chief CB Ananthakrishnan said in an interview. His comments came days after IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari announced plans to order 97 more LCA Mk-1As at an estimated cost of ₹67,000 crore.

HAL has a capacity to build 16 LCA Mk-lAs every year in Bengaluru, and the Nashik line will help the firm ramp up production to a total of 24 jets.

The first Mk-1A will be delivered to IAF in February 2024, and the last of the 83 jets by 2028 (instead of 2029, the contracted delivery schedule), Ananthakrishnan said. Timely delivery is a top priority for IAF, which is grappling with a shortage of fighter squadrons.

"We are hoping to achieve a targeted minimum capacity of building 24 fighters. Nashik has been a big aircraft division that was earlier manufacturing Sukhoi-30s. Building eight LCAMK-1As every year with an additional production line is not going to be a difficult job. This will help us make more fighters available to IAF at the earliest," he said. The aircraft manufacturing division at Nashik, set up in 1964, has produced MiG variants and Su-30s under licence.

The new Mk-1A production line is being set up fast to begin deliveries from Nashik.

"We have already started installing the jigs, fixtures and other equipment. We expect the first assembly to happen in December 2024. Our target is to deliver three aircraft from Nashik in 2024-25 and eight every year thereafter," Ananthakrishnan said.