India's civil aviation minister, Praful Patel, recently made know the Boeing Company’s plans to invest US$ 185 mn in facilities in India and source US$ 1.9 bn in products and services over a period of 10 years.

Along with an investment of $100 mn on a repair, maintenance and overhaul facility, the Chicago-based aerospace company will spend $75 mn on a pilot training facility, with a further $10 mn on other facilities.

The aviation Ministers announcements included a confirmation of state-run airlines, Air-India, intention to buy 68 aircraft from Boeing, in an attempt to expand and modernise its fleet, affect cost savings and add new long-range routes. The aircraft are valued at more than $11 bn in total at list price.

While making known Boeing’s intentions to look at India's participation in design and manufacture of aircraft parts in the long term, Alan Mulally, chief executive, Boeing Commercial Airplanes also revealed a contract with HCL Technologies for software for the 787.

Boeing is also in deals with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., a research deal with the Indian Institute of Science, and software services agreements with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Wipro Ltd.

With delivery scheduled for November 2006, the 68 aircrafts include 23 777s - including eight long-range and 15 extended range aircraft - and 27 of the wide-body Dreamliner, due to enter service in 2008. Air-India Express, the budget airline, will receive 18 737-800s.

Swiss Gudel, a major player in the linear robotic technology and automation system, recently opened its factory at Pirangut near Pune.

With an investment of $2.5 mn, the new unit will manufacture industrial robots, gantry, systems with articulated robots. The factory is spread over three acres and has a design centre, validation centre, area for trial and testing of the manufactured robots as also special system for simulation. Its production capacity is roughly 30 to 40 systems per year, with robots in three modes - for machine testing that is for loading and unloading of parts, handling parts for the different processes and for bottle packaging.

The first robot is set to leave the factory premises to its customer - the Baroda-based Elecon - for loading CNC lathes, followed a month later by a delivery Saint Gobain for glass handling.

Gudel had set up its operations in Pune in November 2004. It also has a manufacturing centre for accessories required for robots. It already has installations in the country at Hyundai, Saint Gobain, Asahi, Tata Motors and Samtel among others. Recently, it supplied 300 m gantry to Bharat Forge for 230 kg crankshaft manufacturing.

In future the company will be looking at requirements in other segments such as food processing, packaging and spatial measurements, which the parent company is already into.

While the Company would like to start exports in two years, it plans to claim in the next five years a minimum of $20 mn of the $50-60 mn Indian market.