HAL ropes in BEML, Adani for light combat helicopter fuselage structure manufacturing
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed agreements with BEML Limited and Adani Defence Systems and Technologies for manufacturing fuselage structures of the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) "Prachand."
Under the agreements, BEML will manufacture 48 fuselage structures and Adani Defence will manufacture 42, with HAL producing the remaining units in-house.
The tie-up supports HAL's contractual obligation to supply 156 Prachand helicopters — 90 to the Indian Army and 66 to the Indian Air Force — under an order valued at approximately Rs 62,700 crore.
Deliveries under the expanded order are scheduled to begin in 2027-28, with completion expected over the following five years; this marks the first integration of private industry into Prachand fuselage production.
LCH "Prachand" — India's Indigenous Light Combat Helicopter
The Light Combat Helicopter, formally named "Prachand," is a 5.5-tonne class, twin-engine attack helicopter designed and developed by HAL. It was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force on 3 October 2022, becoming the first indigenously designed and manufactured dedicated attack helicopter in the Indian armed forces.
Key Details
- Twin-engine, tandem-seat (pilot and co-pilot/weapon systems operator) configuration, purpose-built for high-altitude combat operations.
- The only attack helicopter in the world certified to operate at altitudes of 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) and above; it has landed at high-altitude helipads on the Siachen Glacier at elevations of roughly 4,100-4,800 metres.
- Current limited-series aircraft carry air-to-air missiles, unguided rockets and a turret gun, with indigenous content of about 45 percent by value; series-production aircraft will add indigenous air-to-ground missiles, laser-guided rockets, electronic warfare systems and directed infrared countermeasures, with indigenous content targeted to rise beyond 65 percent.
- HAL has already delivered 15 limited-series Prachand helicopters (10 to the IAF, 5 to the Army) ahead of the larger 156-helicopter order.
The BEML and Adani Defence agreements are aimed at scaling fuselage production to meet the 156-helicopter order, which is more than ten times the size of the initial limited-series batch already delivered.
Private Sector Participation in Defence Manufacturing
India's defence procurement framework, governed by the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, has progressively opened space for private Indian companies alongside defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) like HAL, aiming to widen the domestic supplier base and reduce production bottlenecks in large platform orders.
Key Details
- DAP 2020 introduced acquisition categories such as Buy (Indian-IDDM — Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured), Buy (Indian), and the Strategic Partnership (SP) Model, under which Indian private firms (with over 50 percent Indian ownership under the SP framework) can partner with global OEMs or DPSUs for platform manufacture.
- DPSUs increasingly outsource sub-assembly and structural component manufacturing — such as fuselages — to private industry to expand capacity beyond in-house limits, while retaining system integration and final assembly.
- This mirrors the pattern seen in fixed-wing platforms (e.g., Tata-Airbus C-295 final assembly line) where private industry builds major structural sections under a DPSU or OEM-led programme.
Bringing BEML (a Mini Ratna defence PSU) and Adani Defence (a private player) into fuselage manufacturing for the first time reflects this broader shift toward a multi-vendor domestic supply chain for HAL's helicopter programmes.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) — Institutional Profile
HAL is India's principal aerospace and defence public sector undertaking, tracing its origins to Hindustan Aircraft Limited, established in Bangalore on 23 December 1940, which was later merged with Aeronautics India Limited to form Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on 1 October 1964.
Key Details
- Headquartered in Bengaluru, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence.
- HAL was elevated to Maharatna Central Public Sector Enterprise status in October 2024, becoming India's 14th Maharatna CPSE, granting it greater operational and financial autonomy (including capex approval without a fixed monetary ceiling).
- HAL's core mandate spans design, development, manufacture, repair and overhaul of fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, aero-engines and avionics for the Indian armed forces (e.g., Tejas LCA, Dhruv ALH, Prachand LCH, Su-30MKI licensed production).
As the nodal DPSU responsible for meeting the 156-helicopter Prachand order, HAL's decision to sub-contract fuselage manufacturing illustrates how even a Maharatna-status DPSU relies on an expanded private-public production ecosystem to meet large defence orders on schedule.
- LCH Prachand inducted into the IAF: 3 October 2022.
- 156 Prachand helicopters on order: 90 for the Indian Army, 66 for the Indian Air Force; order value approximately Rs 62,700 crore.
- Fuselage manufacturing split: BEML — 48 units; Adani Defence — 42 units; remainder built by HAL.
- Deliveries under the new order scheduled to begin in 2027-28, with completion over the following five years.
- 15 limited-series Prachand helicopters already delivered (10 IAF, 5 Army) before the expanded order.
- Indigenous content: about 45 percent in current limited-series aircraft, targeted to exceed 65 percent in final series-production aircraft.
- HAL formed 1 October 1964 (from Hindustan Aircraft Limited, est. 1940); elevated to Maharatna status in October 2024 as India's 14th Maharatna CPSE.