Tata Motors arm will make Boeing beam

MUMBAI: TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a subsidiary of Tata Motors, has concluded a deal with US commercial aircraft maker Boeing to build floor beams for the 787 Dreamliner.

The size of the deal was not disclosed.

The beams would be built using advanced titanium and composite materials and would be produced at TAL’s facility in Nagpur and then transported to Boeing partners abroad. The 787 is made largely from composite materials which make the plane more fuel- efficient and cheaper to maintain than aluminum aircraft.

Ravi Kant, manading director, Tata Motors, said: “This agreement has the potential to develop into a more broad-based alliance.”

Aviation industry experts suggest that the deal could have been triggered by the 30% offset agreement between Boeing and the Government of India under which Boeing had committed to purchase goods worth about 30% of the value of its 68 airplane deal with Air India.

Currently, Boeing also sources made-in-India components from public-sector aviation firm Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Ian Thomas, president, Boeing India, said: “We are pursuing a host of growth and productivity initiatives in India.”

Atam P Arya, MD, TAL, said: “This would be a turning point for the Indian manufacturing industry to gain a footprint in the global aerospace business.”

Currently, Boeing has agreements with other component makers like Los Angeles-based HITCO Carbon Composites Inc which also supplies floor beams for an aircraft fuselage section of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It is not clear as of now if the Tata contract is meant to supplement such existing deals.

Tata Motors was trading down 2.55% at 736.25 at close of trade at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Meanwhile, in the US, Boeing is facing opposition from unions on outsourced work on the 787 programme and subsequent delays. The union and members of the International Association of Machinists have complained about the unprecedented level of outsourced work.

Air India, the third launch customer of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, is currently facing delays as a result of the holdup in deliveries of the 787, as announced by Chicago-based Boeing which manufactures the airplane in Seattle.

The three-month delay means that Air India would now fly the long-haul aircraft around May instead of February next year.

Air India had placed an order for 68 aircraft, including 27 787-8 Dreamliners and Jet Airways has ordered 10 planes of the same type.

The Dreamliner has had the largest numbers of pre-launch orders for any aircraft with over 50 customers ordering 855 aircraft. At list prices, this would take the total order book to over $100 billion. Japans All Nippon Airways (ANA) is scheduled to be the launch customer for the aircraft.

n_john@dnaindia.net