By IANS,
New Delhi : AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and Tata Sons Tuesday signed an agreement for forming a joint venture company that will establish in India a final assembly line for the AW119 helicopter for the worldwide market.
The agreement was signed here by AgustaWestland CEO Giuseppe Orsi and Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata.
The joint venture company will be responsible for the AW119’s final assembly, completion and delivery while AgustaWestland will retain responsibility for worldwide marketing and sales. The first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered from the new facility in 2011 with production forecast to rise to 30 aircraft per year to meet worldwide demand.
“It gives us great pleasure to have achieved this important agreement with such a leading industrial partner in India,” Orsi said.
“The establishment of the joint venture will provide extraordinary industrial opportunities both in the country and worldwide through the synergies generated by AgustaWestland and Tata Sons capitalising upon the depth of their respective resources.
“We are committed to enabling Tata Sons to play an increasing role as an aerospace enterprise and to jointly exploiting future prospects in the growing Indian helicopter market,” Orsi added.
It is envisaged, a statement said, that the joint venture company would be a supplier for the current reconnaissance and surveillance helicopter (RSH) programme of the Indian armed forces, for which AgustaWestland has already proposed the AW119 to be manufactured in India.
“Additionally, AgustaWestland and Tata Sons are exploring further commercial, technical and industrial collaboration opportunities in the rotorcraft industry to strengthen their strategic relationship,” the statement added.