New Delhi (Sputnik) — In what could propel Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ‘Make in India' campaign, India's southern city of Hyderabad has become the sole global hub for the production of fuselages for Boeing's AH-64 Apache helicopter which has customers all over the world, including the US Army. The state-of-the-art production facility for such fuselages was inaugurated by Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Hyderabad on Thursday.
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"The manufacturing of advanced defense platforms and the integration with the complex global supply chain will help our aerospace industry acquire technology, build local capability, provide employment and become a global exporter," Nirmala Sitharaman said at the occasion.
The facility was jointly created by Tata Boeing Aerospace (TBAL), a joint venture between Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in the 14,000-square meter space that employs 350 highly skilled workers.
"With the streamlining of the export regulation process under the Strategy for Defense Exports (SDE) of the Government of India, and with established capabilities and demonstrated deliveries, we are poised to emerge as a supplier of choice for global OEMs," Banmali Agrawala, president of infrastructure, defense and aerospace at Tata Sons said in a statement on Thursday.
Presently, over 2,300 Boeing-made Apache helicopters are in operation in at least 16 countries including India. The Indian Ministry of Defense had finalized an order with Boeing for 22 AH-64E Apache helicopters in September 2015, the deliveries for which are scheduled to begin in 2019.