BANGALORE: Maini Global Aerospace (MGA) has bagged an

outsourcing contract worth up to $10 million to make structural

components for the extended range fuel cells of the Boeing P-8A
Poseidon multi-mission maritime (MMR) aircraft.

MGA — owned by the Maini group, which pioneered the manufacture of

the country’s first electric car Reva — said it bagged the multi-year
contract from the UK-based aerospace major Marshall of Cambridge
Aerospace.

Marshall is among the major subcontractors for Boeing P8 Poseidon

military aircraft currently being developed for the US Navy. It is intended
to conduct anti-submarine warfare and shipping interdiction and to
engage in an electronic intelligence (ELINT) role. India has also placed
orders with Boeing for the supply of eight P-8I Poseidons at a total cost
of $2.1 billion.

Maini Aerospace wins contracts with two global companies

 
Maini Aerospace wins contracts with two global companies
Dilip Maitra,Bangalore, Feb 6, DHNS:

Making components for aircraft is a highly challenging job as it

needs high degree of engineering skills and precise manufacturing
capabilities to achieve the highest quality levels. That is why we
have very few aerospace components companies in India though
many make auto components.
But the Bangalore-based Maini Global
Aerospace (MGA), a group company of
the Rs 200 crore Maini Precision
Products, has forayed into this space not
tried by many. To expand its global
aerospace clients list of 12, MGA has just
entered into component supplying
agreement with two leading aerospace
companies in Europe: MTU Aero Engines
of Germany and Marshall Aerospace of UK. 
MTU is a leading aircraft engine manufacturer engaged in the
development, manufacture, marketing and support of commercial and
military aircraft engines. As per the agreement signed, MGA will be
manufacturing engine components and sub assemblies for MTU’s
engines used in civil and military aircraft. In the first phase MGA will be
supplying 27 different types of engine components over a period of four
years.

“It took us almost two years to sign this supply agreement after several
rounds of inspections and testing of our capabilities by MTU engineers,”
Maini Precision Products Managing Director Gautam Maini told Deccan
Herald. “In the aerospace industry it is quite normal to take so much of
time as buyers will have to be 100 per cent sure about the precise
quality of the component.”

Maini also had to do equal amount of due diligence to win a supply

contract from Marshall, a UK-based company that is a tier one supplier
to Boeing’s military aircraft used by defence forces in many countries in
the world. In the first phase of the contract Marshall will buy 70 different
types of structural products from MGA over a period of time.

“Since these two companies are entering India for the first time for
sourcing, our agreements also signify India’s achievements in the field
of precision engineering,” said MGA Chief executive Officer Naresh
Palta who has worked with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for many years.
MGA is in the process of building a new factory on a 15 acre land near
Neelamangala, Bangalore, for the aerospace business and plans to
invest around Rs 25 crore for new machines and new facilities, he said.

The Maini group created MGA for the aerospace business in 2009. It
currently has12 clients like Snecma, BAE System, GE Aviation, HAL,
etc, manufacturers over 900 components and has reached annual
turnover of around Rs 20 crore. Said Maini, “We are currently at the
stage of laying the foundation for a robust aerospace business. It takes
five to seven years to reach the critical mass and the breakeven point in
this trade.” MGA is hopeful of reaching its revenue target of Rs 50 crore
in the next financial year, Maini said.
The engineering group, best known as maker of Reva, the country's first
ever electric passenger car, will develop engine components for multi-
role combat aircraft Eurofighter Typhoon and next generation A380 and
A320 planes of Airbus, the world's largest aircraft maker. The deal will
be signed during the Bangalore Air Show (Aero India 2011) which takes
off on 9th February.

"With the commercial aero-engine market expected to generate about

$740 billion sales over the next 20 years, we are now looking forward to
growing the relationship with MTU on a strategic level," said Naresh
Palta, chief executive, Maini Aerospace. "The group will invest around
$30-40 million in the next 4-5 years to scale up its infrastructure and
capacity," said Palta, who was earlier an executive director at public
sector major, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). Last year, the group bagged
an outsourcing contract worth up to $10 million from Marshall Aerospace
, subcontractors for Boeing , the world's largest aerospace company.

"The timing of Maini's transformation to Aerospace is right. It will take

them another five years to actually see the results," says B Mahadevan,
professor, production and operations management, at the Indian
Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B).

The contract work will be led by group companies Maini Precision

Products (MPP), including its subsidiary company Maini Global
Aerospace (MGA). The multi-year contract now positions the Mainis as
strategic suppliers to the German major that has total revenues of $ 3.5
billion and partners with aero-engine manufacturers such as GE, Pratt &
Whitney and Rolls-Royce to source aero-engine components.

"For them this is the India test, to see whether private industry in India
can actually deliver as per the German standards," said Gautam Maini,
managing director, Maini Precision, who led the aerospace foray for the
group even as younger brother Chetan Maini made waves with Reva.
"Aerospace is going to be a big market in 5-8 years. The business cycle
ranges between 7 and 8 years. It was a quantum shift, something we
had to believe for a long-term," says Maini.
Maini Aerospace , which got Snecma, a major French manufacturer of
engines, as its first customer, has now developed more than 900 build-
to-print parts in the past six years. These involve contracts from global
customers such as Safran, BAE Systems , Eaton, Goodrich and
Magellan Aerospace . It is also working with state-owned HAL to make
components for various projects.