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BANGALORE:
Engineering services major QuEST is collaborating with
business partners to establish a 300-acre special economic
zone (SEZ) in Belgaum, Karnataka, to build an ecosystem of
aerospace supply chain.
The SEZ-which has been granted in-principle clearance by the
Board of Approvals — will be housing suppliers in a single
area and carry out precision machining. “The SEZ is expected
to employ 10,000 people. Talks are on with a handful of
potential domestic companies and MNCs to have them set up
units at the SEZ,” says QuEST Global CEO Ajit Prabhu.
QuEST’s present facility in Bangalore, set up in
collaboration with Canadian major Magellan, will also move
into the SEZ as a 2,00,000 sq ft plant. The facility marked
QuEST’s move into manufacturing from being an end-to-end
engineering solutions company.
QuEST, which is focused on the aviation sector, felt the
“the need for a dedicated aerospace engineering SEZ,
following the huge growth in engineering services offshoring
from India as well as the offset clause for aircraft firms
supplying to Indian carriers, which needs to source a
certain part of their supplies from India,” explains Mr
Prabhu.
The growth of engineering services outsourcing from India is
well-documented. According to latest industry figures
released by Nasscom, global spending on engineering services
was $750 billion in 2004, with aerospace accounting for 8%
and could rise to $1.1 trillion by 2020.
The total offshore engineering spend is expected to grow to
$150-225 billion by 2020 and India, with its talent pool and
experience in engineering services, could pick up 25% of
that. Prabhu says that he believes that there is an
opportunity of close to $1 billion a year of exports to be
achieved by 2012.
The offset clause for aircraft manufacturers is also
expected to give a big fillip to aerospace-linked
manufacturing. India has said it plans to buy 126 fighter
jets, valued at close to $10 billion. On the other hand,
Airbus expects Indian firms to place orders for 1,100
passenger and freighter aircraft valued at about $105
billion over the next 20 years. “With the current offset
clause pegged at 30% of the purchase value and looking at
the buying estimates, at least $3 billion worth of business
is expected in the next 10 years,” says Mr Prabhu.
QuEST, which has been growing at 40% year-on-year, is the
only engineering services company that works with the top
three global aero-engine makers – GE, Rolls Royce and Pratt
& Whitney. Very recently, the company had announced that it
has received Airbus design approval and AS9100
certification. This will enable QuEST to work on upcoming
Airbus programs like the A350 in the areas of engineering
design, documentation and manufacturing engineering.
“A significant amount of defence offset business and some of
the commercial offset is expected to be routed through HAL,
which in turn could sub-contract it to Indian private
players,” Mr Prabhu says.
About QuEST
QuEST is a leader in engineering services, offering
end-to-end product development and engineering solutions to
global majors. QuEST supports product development
initiatives for its customers by leveraging its Global
Product Development (GPD) business model, through
engineering centers established in 3 different continents.
QuEST's expertise ranges from concept design, detailing and
analysis, to product realization solutions in the following
domains: Aerospace, Civil Structures, Power Generation,
Industrial Products, Oil & Gas and Transportation. QuEST
uses Six Sigma methodology, ISO and AS9100 certified
processes to provide better, faster and more value-optimized
solutions to its customers. Its technically competent and
truly global engineering team consists of over 900 engineers
across India, US, Italy, UK, Germany and Japan. For more
information, visit
www.quest-global.com.
Source :
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Infrastructure/Quest_plans_300acre_
aerospace_SEZ_in_Belgaum/articleshow/2173031.cms |
