Aequs is interested in manufacturing aircraft engine components locally

31 Jul 2023 , 11:53 AM

Every time a person boards an airplane or purchases a superhero figurine from a multinational toy company, chances are that some of its components are made in Karnataka. Koppal and Belgavi, both noted for their low rainfall and classical vocalists, have grown as contract manufacturing hubs for toys and aircraft components over the last decade.

Aequs, a contract maker of aerospace components, toys, and consumer durable products, is now expanding into the aircraft interiors market, which has hitherto been dominated by China.

‘Until now, it has mostly been happening out of China, but now we have an opportunity to start doing it out of India because we can compete on a high volume,’ Aequs Chairman and CEO Aravind Melligeri told PTI in an interview.

‘It’s a completely new opportunity.’ It is a USD 10 billion market that will grow to a USD 20 billion market in the next ten years,’ he noted.

A typical aircraft has between three lakh and three million distinct parts. Aequs manufactures over 2,000 such components in its aerospace special economic zone in Belgavi, Karnataka, and supplies them to prominent businesses such as Airbus and Boeing.

He made a strong case for the toy sector’s production-linked incentive plan, claiming that India had a cost advantage over global toymakers such as China, Vietnam, and Thailand, as well as a ready supply of trained labour and technological competence.

For multinational brands such as Hasbro, the toy cluster makes outdoor toys, trucks, playsets, and superhero figurines.

According to Melligeri, the company has also entered the consumer durables industry, where it manufactures cookware and home appliances for big brands in a dedicated cluster in Hubbali.

Given the plethora of engineering institutions in the Belgavi area, the availability of talent has never been an issue for any of its firms.

‘Today, we can take students fresh out of high school and completely train them as aerospace engineers.’ ‘We have built that level of capacity for our training programs,’ Melligeri explained.

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