Karnataka, claimant to India’s aerospace and defence crown, got a public kudos in general from the who’s who of this flagship sector whose companies already have a presence in Bengaluru. The gains of being here obviously obviated some of the pains.
Over half a dozen brass from the ‘A&D’ industry gave the State a general thumbs up and said it had what it takes to be an Asian leader in the next decade. This was the place to be in if you were in this industry, they said at the three-day ‘Invest Karnataka 2016’ that opened on Wednesday.
The down side: Bengaluru’s awful traffic, erratic power and inadequate social infrastructure deter interested investors.
The State, already home to over a hundred of these companies, is consolidating its hold on it. It eyes the next $20 billion in aerospace revenue in the next decade.
A sample of what they said at the A&D summit:
Shekar Vishwanathan, vice-chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor: Distinct edge with two aerospace SEZs; policy; talent pool of 3,000 and pro-active policy.
S.P. Shukla, Mahindra’s group president - Aerospace & Defence: Kolar facility has taken off. 90% ‘ok’ but power supply, infrastructure, traffic are sore points.
Srinivasan Dwarakanath, president, Airbus India: High air traffic growth may increase component sourcing from India & Bengaluru
R. Kaveri Renganathan, CEO, HAL Bangalore Complex: Key defence aircraft projects and vendors from Bengaluru.
Aravind Melligeri, Chairman & CEO, Aequs: Manufacturing startups and smaller companies need State finance and policy support. Vibrant ecosystem in Belagavi where company has a 250-acre aerospace SEZ.
Chris Rao of UTC Aerospace: MNCs need speed, human resource with good educational skills, social infrastructure, long-term urban planning as in Malaysia, Brazil and Mexico.
Udayant Malhoutra, CEO, Dynamatic Technologies: Adopt the Singapore model of exciting, disciplined and safe cities for young talent; educational and social infrastructure; smoother transfer of land to speed up future projects.
Dhiraj Mathur, Partner, PwC: Aerospace is not an easy industry anywhere in the world. Remove the barriers to access, communication and quality life.
