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HAL eyes export boost with accessories, indigenised parts: Official
In an interaction with mediapersons at the HAL's accessories division here on Wednesday, the official also said the platforms and components made by the state-run firm now reach "nearly 30 countries".
He emphasised that the HAL is already working with the government to deepen domestic capability across aircraft systems, while endeavouring to widen its export footprint.
The defence public sector undertaking (PSU) has plans to ramp up revenues through the export of accessories related to aircraft and other platforms, including Dornier Do-228, he said.
"This is part of focussed efforts at the corporate level," the official working with the HAL's accessories division said.
The division supports this strategy through documentation, post-sale engineering support and modification services, officials said.
They said the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) working with the HAL are also supported through formal "handholding" initiatives to build domestic capacity.
In the post-COVID-19 era, the HAL has intensified efforts towards greater indigenisation across critical lines of equipment, the officials said.
The Lucknow unit of the HAL has developed the "main fuel pump" used in fighter aircraft -- a critical system that powers some of the Indian Air Force's frontline platforms -- they said.
The component is entirely indigenised and manufactured at the Lucknow division, the officials added and described it as a "significant achievement in the HAL's self-reliance drive".
Fighter jet fuel pumps are critical in ensuring the proper flow of fuel to the engine under diverse flight conditions, including changes in altitude, rapid manoeuvring, acceleration and deceleration. They must provide a consistent and reliable fuel supply to maintain the aircraft's performance and safety, the officials said.
"The main fuel pump is one of the most sensitive and high-performance systems in a fighter aircraft," an official said.
Spread across 290 acres, the HAL complex in Lucknow houses the manufacturing unit and residential quarters, and supports aircraft such as the Su-30MKI, LCA Tejas, ALH Dhruv, Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and Dornier Do-228, the officials said.
The Lucknow division is part of the HAL's Accessories Complex, which also includes units in Kanpur, Hyderabad, Korwa and a newly-opened unit in Kasaragod.
The Lucknow division supplies aircraft systems, including propulsion, hydraulics, mission and combat solutions, flight-control units and landing-gear systems. It also provides full-life-cycle support through post-sale documentation, modifications and engineering handholding, the officials said.
The Lucknow division also provides system-level support for the Su-30MKI fleet, with complete maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) now being carried out within the country, they added.
In addition to its defence contributions, the unit supports the country's space programme by contributing components for the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through the HAL's aerospace division, the officials said, noting that this reflects a "growing synergy" between the defence PSU's defence and civilian arms.
The HAL has also allied operations with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), the officials said.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Mint
5 hours ago
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Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
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First Post
6 hours ago
- First Post
Yunus's Bangladesh has become a Pakistani client state
Bangladesh and Pakistan have agreed to implement visa-free travel for each other's diplomats and official passport holders—an unprecedented policy shift that marks the most explicit sign yet of Dhaka's growing closeness to Islamabad read more In a move that has raised alarm across Bharat, Bangladesh and Pakistan have agreed to implement visa-free travel for each other's diplomats and official passport holders. This policy shift marks the most explicit sign yet of Dhaka's growing closeness to Islamabad, following the sudden and opaque ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Framed officially as a gesture of 'Muslim brotherhood' and 'regional solidarity', this development has far deeper—and darker—implications, especially for Bharat. To those familiar with Bangladesh's liberation struggle, the deal reeks of strategic capitulation and ideological drift. After all, this is the same Pakistan whose military committed unspeakable atrocities in 1971, the very trauma that gave birth to Bangladesh. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The symbolism is unmistakable: Post-Hasina Bangladesh is behaving like a Pakistani client state, seduced back into the orbit of the regime it broke free from five decades ago. And this isn't without precedent. Mujib's Dangerous Playbook What we are witnessing today echoes a disheartening chapter in Bangladesh's formative years. Just two years after leading a bloody struggle for independence, 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman began realigning with Islamabad—a move that stunned Dhaka and Delhi alike. In 1974, Mujib gave a state welcome to Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, offering him more honours than were extended to Bharat's President, VV Giri, who had visited Dhaka only days earlier. 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The Return of US-Pakistan Influence Since Sheikh Hasina's ouster, Bangladesh's new administration has moved swiftly to rehabilitate pro-Pakistani forces, many of them linked historically to Jamaat-e-Islami and other Islamist outfits banned by the previous dispensation. While this is being spun as 'democratic pluralism', it is, in reality, a deliberate erasure of the 1971 war consensus that built Bangladesh as a secular, pluralistic republic. The rollback has been quietly orchestrated by Washington, which had long viewed Hasina as an obstacle to its Indo-Pacific strategy. Her refusal to lease St Martin's Island for a US naval base in the Bay of Bengal infuriated American policymakers. Enter Donald Lu, a US State Department official with a dubious reputation for regime change, and Ambassador Peter Haas, whose fingerprints are all over Dhaka's recent political recalibration. Just as the CIA played a silent role in the events leading to Mujib's assassination in 1975, today's developments bear the mark of Washington-Islamabad collusion. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Lessons from Mujib's Fall History offers a chilling warning. Mujib's appeasement of Pakistan and alienation of Bharat didn't save him—they isolated him. And now Mohammed Yunus, the economist-turned-administrator propped up by Western and Pakistani interests, is repeating the same fatal mistakes. Yunus weaponised anti-Bharat rhetoric, aided by the Pakistani ISI and the American deep state, to unseat Hasina. But nearly a year later, his administration is floundering amid economic chaos and rising insecurity. Minorities are being terrorised. And the middle class is losing hope amid a declining economy and rising joblessness. Having nothing to show, Yunus is now resorting to Islamist appeasement: invoking jihadist nostalgia, deepening ties with Islamabad, and empowering religious extremists. But as Mujib's downfall proves, this path leads to disaster. Sooner or later, he too will be consumed by the very fire he has ignited. Conclusion Bangladesh stands at a perilous juncture. It can choose ideological amnesia—forgetting war crimes, surrendering to foreign meddling, and embracing Islamist reactionism. Or, it can choose memory, justice, and sovereignty, rooted in the blood sacrifice of 1971 and anchored by Bharat's principled friendship. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The choice now lies with the people of Bangladesh. They must confront the Islamist virus that re-emerges with intermittent regularity. This ideology returned for the first time just a couple of years after independence. And now, half a century later, it once again threatens to devour the republic from within. One hopes this is only a passing cloud. If not, Bangladesh risks walking the path to perdition—abandoning its secular foundations, its democratic promise, and the very spirit of its liberation war. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.