The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has had a change of guard with Ravi Kota taking over the reins of the Indian aviation behemoth from Dr DK Sunil. Ravi Kota was selected from a group of eight officials by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB). The incoming Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the organisation has over three decades of experience across various sectors in the company ranging from aerospace & defence, manufacturing and electronics. Before taking over as the 22nd CMD of the organisation Ravi K was the was Director (operations), he has also held the position of Executive Director (Corporate Planning) at HAL.
The new CMD has been key in concluding key contracts for the HAL, these include the two deals for the Tejas for a total of 180 airframes for the
Indian Air Force and the 156 Light Combat Helicopter deal for the army and the air force. Through his initiatives, the firm has managed to increase the serviceability rates due to various customer-centric initiatives, established seamless data communication with IAF bases and created a single point of contact for timely customer support.
HAL also credits Ravi K for increasing domestic content in the LCA Tejas and also for expanding production capacity in Nashik. The Nashik facility has been assembling the Indian Air Force's Sukhoi-30MKI fleet and now has the third production line of the Tejas, the other two are located in Bengaluru.
Ravi K is also credited with the company's foray in manufacturing for the civil aviation sector and for entering the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) operations. Ravi has also played a pivotal role in helping to develop an aviation manufacturing ecosystem by outsourcing major fuselage assemblies to private sector partners, who are now playing a key part, most prominently in the Tejas program.
HAL has not been able to deliver the Tejas Mk-1A aircraft to the IAF, as many important systems are yet to be integrated. US based General Electric is also behind schedule in providing the powerplant for the aircraft, so far only five fighters have been seen with jet engines while as many as to aircraft have been assembled by the firm.
Ravi Kota also serves as the nominee Director on the board of Multi-Role Transport Aircraft Ltd. This was a program that the HAL had initiated with the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) of Russia.
