PM Modi to inaugurate Asia's largest helicopter factory of HAL in Karnataka: All you need to know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Asia's largest helicopter manufacturing facility of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in the Tumakuru district of Karnataka today.

"In yet another step towards 'Aatmanirbharta' in defence, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation a Helicopter Factory of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Tumakuru, Karnataka on February 06, 2023," the ministry of defence said in a statement. 

"This factory will enable India to meet its entire requirement of helicopters without import and giving much-needed fillip to the Prime Minister's vision of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' in helicopter design, development, and manufacture," the ministry added. 

Here's all you need to know about HAL's helicopter manufacturing facility

Touted as Asia's largest helicopter manufacturing facility, Greenfield Manufacturing Facility, which is spread across 615 acres of land, will initially produce Light Utility Helicopters (LUHs).

The factory will also be augmented to produce other helicopters such as Light Combat Helicopters (LCHs) and Indian Multirole Helicopters (IMRHs). It will also be used for maintenance, repair and overhaul of LCH, LUH, Civil Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and IMRH in the future as well as potential exports of civil LUH will also be catered to from this factory.

"Besides generating direct and indirect employment, the Tumakuru facility will boost the development of surrounding areas through its CSR activities with large-scale community-centric programmes on which the company will spend substantial amounts. All this will result in improvement in the people’s lives in the region," the ministry said in a statement. 

"The proximity of the factory, with the existing HAL facilities in Bengaluru, will boost the aerospace manufacturing ecosystem in the region and support skill & infrastructure development such as schools, colleges and residential areas. Medical and health care would also reach the community residing in the various nearby Panchayats," the ministry added. 

With this, HAL plans to produce more than 1,000 helicopters in the range of 3-15 tonnes, with a total business of over ₹4 lakh crores over a period of 20 years.

Defence outlay in Budget 2023-24

In the Union Budget for FY24, the government has allocated an outlay of ₹5.94 lakh crore to the defence sector, which represents 13.18% of the total budget. This includes an amount of ₹1,38,205 crore for defence pensions. The total outlay given to the defence sector witnessed a surge of 13% by ₹68,371.49 crore as compared to that of the previous year. 

The capital expenditure for FY2023-24 has been increased by 33% to ₹10 lakh crore, which represents 3.3% of the country’s GDP. The capital allocations pertaining to modernisation and infrastructure development of the defence services have been increased by 6.7% to ₹1,62,600 crore. This is a rise of ₹10,230 crore over FY 2022-23.

"This increase is a reflection of the Government’s commitment towards sustainable augmentation in the area of modernisation & infrastructure development of the Defence Services," the ministry said.