Given the growing demand for HAL-built helicopters, there is likely to be a strong demand for gearboxes and gears
By Vikas Gupta
Defence News of India, 13 May 22
In a first for a private company in India, Skanda Aerospace Technology Private Limited (SATPL) on Thursday announced plans to invest Rs 250 crores to set up a gearbox manufacturing plant in Hyderabad.
SATPL is a Joint Venture (JV) between Hyderabad-based Raghu Vamsi Machine Tools (RMVT) and Texas-based Rave Gears LLC.
This production facility will be India’s first private company capable of manufacturing gears and gearboxes for helicopters. Given the growing demand for helicopters manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), it is likely that there will be a large demand for gearboxes and transmissions.
Rave Gears, which will operate as a technology provider, will own 55% of SATPL while RVMT & Investors will own the remaining 45%. The JV company will invest Rs 250 crore and provide jobs for 1,000 workers over the next 3-5 years.
Rave Gears has also committed to supplying Skanda Aerospace with assured annual orders of up to $9 million.
Based in Texas, Rave Gears LLC is a designer, manufacturer and integrator of precision gear and transmission systems for aerospace, defense, Formula 1 and industrial customers worldwide. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that are Rave Gears customers include major OEMs such as Boeing, Bell, Collins, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, McLaren and Nascar.
Raghu Vamsi Machine Tools is a supplier of high precision products and sub-assemblies for OEMs such as Boeing, GE Aviation, Eaton and Honeywell. He has been in the precision manufacturing business for 15 years and envisions an expected market size of $937 million.
According to its managing director, Vamsi Vikas Ganesul, Raghu Vamsi has almost doubled its turnover in each of the past three years. The total turnover stood at around Rs 150 crore last year.
Like most companies in the precision manufacturing industry, Raghu Vamsi has found growing to be a capital-intensive business, with each precision manufacturing machine costing around $3 million.
Helicopter Gear Manufacturing
- Hyderabad-based Raghu Vamsi Machine Tools forms joint venture with Texas-based Rave Gears LLC
- Establishment of a world-class factory for manufacturing helicopter gears and gearboxes
- Expected to provide jobs for 1,000 employees
- Rave Gears committed to supplying $9 million in annual orders to Skanda Aerospace
