HAL to make Russia’s SJ-100 aircraft in India

• Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) signed a pact with Russia’s Public Joint Stock Company United Aircraft Corporation (PJSC-UAC) for production of SJ-100 aircraft in India on October 27.

• The deal was signed in presence of HAL’s chairman and managing director D.K. Sunil and PJSC-UAC Director General Vadim Badekha in Moscow.

• It will be the first such project to produce a passenger aircraft in India.

• The joint venture was finalised a little more than a month before an expected visit to India by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• The SJ-100 was earlier known as the Sukhoi Superjet 100. 

• It is a twin-engine, narrow-body aircraft. 

• As on date, over 200 SJ-100 aircraft have been produced and are being operated by more than 16 commercial airline operators.

• The finalisation of the collaboration came almost a decade after both sides explored the possibility of producing the aircraft in India.

• The HAL has a long-standing partnership with UAC, including for the manufacturing of the Su-30MKI combat jet for the Indian Air Force.

• SJ-100 will be the game changer for short-haul connectivity under the UDAN scheme in India. 

• Under this arrangement, HAL will have the rights to manufacture SJ-100 aircraft for domestic customers.

• The last such project was HAL’s production of AVRO HS-748, which started in 1961 and ended in 1988. The AVRO HS-748 was used by the Indian Air Force.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the signing of the pact as a “landmark step for the Indian civil aviation sector” in India.

• SJ-100 will be the first complete passenger aircraft to be made in the country since the AVRO era. The manufacturing will also strengthen the private sector and create direct and indirect jobs in the aviation industry.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)