It was only with the dawn of 21st century that we
saw India privatizing the aerospace industry. Of course, when it came to
aerospace components manufacturers, India still continued to be largely
unregulated. As the years passed by, some of our mainstream manufacturers
managed to bag major deals with big names such as Airbus, Boeing and Spirit
AeroSystems. That said, not many companies have been able to make a mark and
position themselves as a dynamic aerospace partner. The productions have also
been limited and there seems to be a definite need to address the challenges faced
by the industry as a whole.
Start-ups, small-sized and medium-sized aerospace
companies are seeing some growth but as an industry almost everyone are hitting
the dead end. Some of the recent surveys suggest that the aircraft parts
manufacturers in India face technological expertise as their number one
roadblock with the second one being their incompetence to achieve zero-error
targets.
The fast changing global spectrum of technology can
at times be very difficult to catch up, especially when there are not enough
monetary resources or funding at the disposal to buy these technologies. Today
most of the aircraft parts manufacturers in India end up spending more for low
production volume. This further adds to the misery when they are unable to buy
and adapt to new technologies needed for different production cycles. This
vicious cycle, above many other things, is not allowing India to become a world
leader in aerospace universe.
A workforce that is not skilled up to the
contemporary industry standards is also holding back the companies. Start-ups
in particular are facing roadblocks with almost no firms interested in funding
them. This in turn stops the talent within the country to be enthusiastic about
the aerospace industry in India and they instead seek better opportunities in
other nations.
With the Make in India campaign launched by the
government few years back, things are expected to improve but even today
government and other organizations are dependent to procure precision
engineering aerospace components from vendors outside the country. In many
cases, these foreign vendors are selling many of their components that are
manufactured in India back to the buyers in India. This concludes, that trust
and reliability of Indian buyers still lie with foreign vendors more than the
native ones. In addition to this, for many years the taxation rules for the
domestic players have been more stringent than the foreign vendors.
To begin with, the mindset and sentiment in general
may undergo a transition, which can open newer avenues for the SMEs and
start-ups. The aerospace ecosystem in India should start nurturing the smaller
organizations and companies, which will result in a stable and ever expanding
industry. Over a period of next 7-8 years, India can certainly become a world
leader in terms of aerospace component supply chain. The big OEMs have already
started collaborating on machined and sheet-metal parts production along with
many other deals involving large aircraft sub assemblies.
The biggest change has come in form of Make in
India campaign, which is spreading a lot of positivity amongst the aircraft
parts manufacturers in India. There are many policies in the campaign that help
companies of all sizes at different levels and encourage them to grow bigger
and more robust.
Some of the other factors that may change the face
of aerospace engineering companies in India include advancements in
manufacturing engineering and design techniques along with many advanced
materials used across the industry. While not all the advancements in
technologies have reached India yet, but with the size of investment of time
and money many of the foreign vendors have already done in the country, we
should not be more than 4 to 5 years away from becoming a global aerospace
component supply chain hub.
About The Author
Varun is anAerospace engineer working in Dynamatics
Technology. The largest producers in of hydraulic pumps, automotive components,
aerospace components and systems in Europe and India. Connect to know more.
COMMENTS