Aero India comes of age

Bangalore: With the Aero India show to be held on February 7-11 India is fast catching up with Britain and France's Farnborough and Paris air shows respectively.

From a modest beginning as a defence exposition in 1996, Aero India 2007, the sixth edition of the biennial event, has improved beyond recognition and has drawn attention from all the big global aviation companies. The fact that Farnborough International (FIL), the organiser of the Farnborough Air Show, has joined the Ministry of Defence and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) as co-organisers, underscores the growing importance of the show.

The event slated for February 7-11 has drawn incredible interest and has put India on the map as being a promising destination for aerospace manufacturing and the opening up of the Indian skies. India's rising security profile has also made the country a significant market for aerospace industry.

In all 450 firms are expected to participate in Aero India 2007, from 380 in Aero India 2005. The number of foreign firms among the air show participants will be 275, against 232 previously while the number of visitors is expected to be about 35,000, including 4,000 international visitors.

The growing interest in the show is also due to the fact that the US lifted the sanctions imposed on India in post- Pokhran nuclear test in 2001 leading to US-based defence suppliers establishing a base here.

Boeing IDS, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Missile Systems, BAE Systems, Embraer, Bombardier and Bell Helicopter, who are bidding for various defence deals are among the most active participants in the event. The event will also see active participation by IT majors like TCS, Wipro, Infosys, HCL and IBM, and engineering product designing and development solutions providers like CADES and Quest.