Article Posted on : - Oct 21, 2010

A Eurocopter photo by Anthony Pecchi

NEW DELHI (PTI): Global helicopter manufacturer Eurocopter has said it will set up service and maintenance centres in India as part of efforts to capture a 50 per cent share of the growing Indian helicopter market.

Initially, the company will set up maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) networks in different parts of the country with existing partners like Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd and Indocopters, a senior company official said Wednesday on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of Eurocopter's Indian subsidiary, Eurocopter India.

"We will begin with companies like Pawan Hans for the MRO facility and within 5 years, the target is to set up our own MRO network," Eurocpoter's new India-head Marie-Agnes Veve told reporters here.

She declined to comment on the investment plans of the company.

"The Indian helicopter market is growing at the rate of 20 per cent... We want to increase our presence in the Indian civilian and military helicopter market and aim to have a 50 per cent market share in the next few years," she said.

Refusing to name its prospective clients, Eurocopter Executive Vice-President (Commercial Helicopters) Joseph Saporito said, "We have 23 civil and government customers and talks are on with several corporates, hospitals and government authorities to increase our customer base."

He added that Eurocopter also plans to expand its industrial presence in the country, for which cooperation with Hindustan Aeronautics will be increased.

The company, which has an existing facility in Bangalore, also plans to open an engineering centre in the city by next year, Saporito said.

Meanwhile, Eurocopter said it has successfully performed in the trials for supplying 197 Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) to the Indian Army and the Air Force.

"We have passed all the trials so far and our company is still in race and we remain committed to it (the deal)," Eurocopter's senior Vice President Joseph Saporito told reporters.

Eurocopter and Russian Kamov are the two companies in the race for the deal.

Asked to comment on reports suggesting the possibility of the tender being scrapped again after one of the companies raised questions over its elimination, Saporito said, "It is not possible for us to comment because we respect the confidentiality clauses of the tender and wish that others would respect them as well."

The deal was scrapped earlier in December 2007 at the last moment when Defence Ministry was in the final stages of finalising the price of the choppers.

Recent reports suggested that Italian defence major AgustaWestland has written a letter to the Defence Ministry questioning its elimination from the competition.

Veve said on the occasion that the company was committed to supporting the Indian armed forces as it did in the case of the French-origin Cheetah and Chetak fleet.

Of the 197 LUHs, 135 would go to the Army and the rest to the Air Force. HAL is also developing a similar class of choppers and is looking for global partners for design, development and manufacturing of the helicopters.