Hyderabad: After decades of being focused on the defence sector, state-run aerospace giant Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) now plans to raise the share of its civil aviation business to 25% of overall turnover within the next 10 years, up from the current 4–5%, chairman and managing director DK Sunil said on Wednesday. He outlined a diversification push aimed at reducing dependence on military programmes that currently account for about 95% of revenues. HAL’s strategy will focus on 3 major tracks: expanding certified civil products, building a civil helicopter pipeline, and entering the regional jet market through a mix of leasing and domestic assembly, the HAL CMD said at the Wings India 2026 show that kicked off on Wednesday.Pointing out that HAL made a “conscious decision” to increase the civil component of revenues, he said a key near-term lever will be the SuperJet 100 (SJ100) programme, for which it signed an agreement with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) to produce the 103-seat, twin-engine regional jet in India.To accelerate market entry, HAL plans to lease 10–20 SJ100 aircraft purchased from Russia in flyaway condition, rather than waiting for local production to scale up. Sunil said the company expects to bring in around 10 aircraft over the next 12–18 months, using the initial fleet to gather operational feedback on maintainability, ground support, MRO requirements and support systems. In parallel, HAL aims to begin rolling out semi knocked down (SKD) SJ100 aircraft from its existing facilities in about 3 years.Under the SKD plan, HAL will import major assemblies, set up the required facilities and test equipment, and complete final assembly domestically. The company estimates demand for more than 200 aircraft in the 100-seat category, driven by India’s regional connectivity push and potential demand from nearby markets. HAL is also in discussions with firms in Gujarat’s GIFT City on leasing structures.Sunil said HAL’s approach is to keep investments low by leveraging in-country industry capacity, its own factories and its established vendor base. He cited fuel and maintenance as major cost drivers in civil aviation, arguing that domestic production could improve spare parts availability and reduce lifecycle costs. HAL plans to use facilities including its large Nasik complex and its Kanpur factory for sub-assemblies, alongside private-sector partners.On the civil helicopter side, state-owned Pawan Hans is set to procure 10 India-made Dhruv NG helicopters for ONGC offshore operations, with additional demand expected from the Border Security Force.HAL is also pushing the Hindustan 228, a recertified version of the Dornier 228, which received civil certification from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. HAL reported revenue of about Rs 31,000 crore last year and expects 7–8% growth this fiscal, with the SJ100 and helicopters projected to become larger contributors over the next 3 to 4 years.
