NEW DELHI: State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and France’s Safran Helicopter Engines on Wednesday inked the contract to jointly develop the 3,500 to 4,000 shaft horsepower-class ‘Aravalli’ copter engine, which will power HAL’s planned 13-tonne Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) and its naval variant, the 12.5-tonne Deck-Based Multi-Role Helicopter (DBMRH).
The contract covers the engine’s design, development, manufacture, supply and lifecycle support. The Aravalli will be developed and produced by SAFHAL Helicopter Engines Pvt Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between HAL and Safran Helicopter Engines, the rotorcraft engine arm of Safran, with the production planned at HAL’s facility in Tumakuru, Karnataka.
The signing marks the start of the engine’s development and production phase, with work to be shared equally between the two parent companies. HAL is both a shareholder in SAFHAL and the customer for the engine as the helicopter manufacturer.
HAL chairman and managing director Ravi K said the contract marked a “significant step forward” in India’s pursuit of self-reliance in aero-engine technology. Safran Helicopter Engines CEO Olivier Andries said the programme represented a new chapter in the strategic relationship between India and France and was the company’s first co-development of an engine in this power class.
The agreement further deepens Safran’s growing aerospace and defence footprint in India. The French company is already the largest supplier of helicopter engines to the Indian armed forces, with more than 1,200 engines in service. Its Shakti engine, co-developed with HAL and derived from the Ardiden 1H1, powers the Dhruv, Prachand and light utility helicopters (LUH) and is produced in Bengaluru.
Safran has also expanded into aircraft-engine maintenance in India. In November last year, it inaugurated a $200-million LEAP engine overhaul facility in Hyderabad, its largest such centre globally, and began work on an overhaul facility for the Rafale’s M88 engine, its first outside France.
The Aravalli programme is expected to provide HAL access to critical engine technologies, including the high-pressure compressor, power turbine, accessory gearbox and fuel and oil systems. Indian engineers will work alongside Safran teams during development, with engine design and development targeted for completion by 2032-33.
The engine development contract comes ahead of formal government clearance for the IMRH and DBMRH projects themselves. The two helicopter programmes are yet to receive acceptance of necessity and approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security, with HAL funding preparatory work from its own resources.
The IMRH is intended to eventually replace the Indian military’s fleet of over 240 Russian-origin Mi-17 helicopters as they begin retiring in the early 2030s. HAL is targeting rollout of the first IMRH prototype in 2028 and certification by 2031.
Safran’s other major India proposal, a joint venture with DRDO’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment to co-develop a 120-kN-class engine for the AMCA Mk2 fighter, remains pending before the CCS.
