Trials of a Commercial Aircraft
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd(HAL) had carried out a successful ground run and Low Speed Taxi Trials (LSTT) of a prototype Hindustan-228 aircraft, a potential commercial aircraft after Type Certification by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India.
HAL Kanpur carried out the 1st Engine Ground Run of Hindustan-228 aircraft on 27th May 2021 in co-ordination with DGCA team. Further, ground runs were also carried out for testing of various systems. Subsequently, the LSTT was carried out in co-ordination with DGCA team on 15th August 2021 and the required test parameters were met.
Hindustan-228 aircraft is a variant of HAL manufactured Do-228 aircraft which is already deployed under the UDAN scheme. Hindustan-228 aircraft is being certified to the latest international airworthiness standards with modern avionics system and will be suitable for operations under UDAN scheme. Currently, HAL has entered into an agreement with M/s Alliance Air on 26th September 2021 for dry leasing of its two Do-228 aircrafts for deployment in the North Eastern Region.
The project is funded by HAL. The total funds sanctioned and released by HAL for this project is Rs 72.33 crore for the prototype manufacturing and type Certification from DGCA. Additionally, Rs 266.85 crore have been sanctioned by HAL for the manufacture of six more aircraft.
Defence Industrial Corridors in Tamil Nadu
As per information received from Government of Tamil Nadu, three proposals have been sent to Government of India concerning Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor (TNDIC). The details and status of these proposals are as follows:
(i) Establishment of testing facilities under Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS) of Ministry of Defence (MoD). The State Government has been directed to participate in the tender process and follow the procedure/ scheme guidelines in this regard.
(ii) Leasing of about 160 acres of defence land in taluka Ulundurpettai, Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu for creation of Aviation Technology Hub. This proposal is outside the identified nodes of TNDIC.
(iii) A proposal has been submitted to Airport Authority of India (AAI) for establishment of Aircraft MRO Complex in 50 acres of land at Chennai Airport.
The Defence Industrial Corridors including TNDIC have been established to attract investments from public / private industries to develop defence manufacturing ecosystem. As per information received from Government of Tamil Nadu, action has been taken to develop TNDIC and an Aerospace &Defence (A&D)policy for incentivizing investments bythe industries in the TNDIC has been notified. They have started land acquisition and taken action to develop defence industrial parks, aerospace parks etc. and signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with 39 (thirtynine) private/public industries. Against the projected investments worth Rs. 12226.00 Crore as per MoUs with various private/public industries in the TNDIC, investment of more than Rs 2,200 crore have already been made in the last three years. Further, the State Government of Tamil Nadu has also spent Rs. 30 Crore for development of Aerospace park.
