During the visit of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to India, Russian Helicopters Holding Company (subsidiary of Oboronprom Corporation, forming part of Russian Technologies State Corporation), and Elcom Systems Private Limited (forming part of the Indian investment company SUN Group), signed an agreement in New Delhi on establishing the joint venture for assembly of Russian “Mi” and “Ka” helicopters in India, Russian Helicopters reports. AEX.ru

The joint venture will be able to manufacture the key components of the helicopter and then carry out final assembly of the vehicles, along with their ground and flight testing. It is expected that the joint venture will start its activities with producing components for the multirole light Ka-226T helicopter.

The enterprise should become an advanced industrial base for promotion of hi-tech Russian rotorcraft vehicles at the Indian market.

 “India is a long-standing partner of Russian Helicopters Holding Company in terms of helicopter deliveries. The establishing of the Russian-Indian joint venture is a new stage and also a logical continuation of our cooperation on the back of increasing demand for Russian helicopters”, - Dmitry Petrov, CEO of Russian Helicopters, said.

According to him, the new joint venture (JV) will contribute to the development of Indian aircraft industry and provide efficient application of advanced Russian technologies. It will also help to get the training of Indian engineers and other highly-qualified personnel going.

In addition, the JV will be implementing offset projects in the network of various tenders in India where Russian rotorcraft are involved. The Holding Company and Elcom Systems have also discussed the establishing of a joint Helicopter Academy in India intended for training of flight and technical personnel.

Following the results of Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in December 2012 a set of documents on interaction in the area of military-technical cooperation between Russia and India has been signed.

India is a traditional customer of Russian aircraft. At present it is operating a fleet comprising 280 Russian-made helicopters, press-service of Russian Helicopters noted.