Bangalore-based Axis Aerospace and Technologies plans to set up a manufacturing unit for avionics, eyeing the massive opportunity in the Indian defence sector.
The firm, in which the Rajeev Chandrasekhar-controlled Jupiter Capital holds a majority stake, on Wednesday, inked an agreement with a Russian consortium through Rosoboronexport, a nodal agency, for a joint venture to manufacture and support avionics and testing equipment in India for Russian systems.
The manufacturing facility would require a minimum investment of Rs 30 crore, S Ravinarayan, chairman and CEO of Axis Aerospace, told FE. ?Axis is positioning itself as India?s first vertically integrated private aerospace and defence company, meaning that we are providing end to end solutions,? he said, adding that partnering with a Russian OEM for avionics is would give it an edge in orders for upgrading of Indian defence equipment.
?We are already working with Europeans and the Americans,? he said, adding that nearly 60% of the firm?s revenues came from Europe and the rest from America. ?Now we are looking to foray into Russian systems. What we are looking at is lifecycle support of Russian origin equipment in India, develop avionics for Russian programmes in India and more than anything, testing.? The company counts EADS and Airbus among its customers.
Axis has staff strength of 1,200 engineers based in Bangalore and in six locations overseas. It had acquired Indian engineering services company Cades in 2009 for about Rs 80 crore.