Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is an Indian public sector aerospace and defence company. Headquartered in Bengaluru, it is involved in the designing, manufacturing and overhaul of combat aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, jet and turbine engines, avionics, and other hardware. HAL operates 11 dedicated research and development centres and 21 manufacturing divisions distributed across four production units. The company is majority-owned by the Indian government, and managed by a board of directors appointed by the Indian president through the Ministry of Defence.
Established on 23 December 1940 by Walchand Hirachand as Hindustan Aircraft Limited, the company is one of the oldest and largest aerospace and defence manufacturers in the world. The company began manufacturing aircraft in 1942 with licensed production of Harlow PC-5, Curtiss P-36 Hawk, and Vultee A-31 Vengeance for the Indian Air Force. The company started manufacturing jet engines in 1957 with the licensed production of Bristol Siddeley Orpheus engines. It was established as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on 1 October 1964. The HF-24 Marut, a fighter-bomber manufactured by HAL in the late 1960s, was the first indigenous combat aircraft built in India.
Since the 1980s, HAL has been involved in the licensed production of various foreign aircraft, such as MiG-21, MiG-27, SEPECAT Jaguar, HS 748, Dornier 228, and Sukhoi Su-30MKI. The company is involved in the production of indigenous aircraft, including the HAL Tejas fighter, and HJT-16 Kiran trainer aircraft. It has developed various helicopters such as the Chetak, Cheetah, Dhruv, Rudra, Prachand, and Light Utility Helicopter. It has produced various jet and helicopter engines in coordination with Rolls Royce, GE Aviation, Klimov, NPO Saturn, Honeywell, and Turbomeca. HAL also manufactures spare parts for Airbus, Boeing, and GE Aviation.
History
During World War II, Indian industrialist Walchand Hirachand sought to establish the first aircraft factory in India. He found a partner in American businessman William Pawley, and the two received authorisation from the British War Cabinet to set up a factory. Walchand approached different princely states for financial assistance, and the Mysore government agreed to help. A site was chosen in Bangalore east of the cantonment and close to several lakes. It would come to occupy , of which Mysore offered . Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) was established on 23 December 1940 by Walchand, his colleagues, and the kingdom of Mysore. Construction of the aerodrome began the following day. Workers first had to clear the scrubland with its hundreds of termite nests and cobras. The cornerstone of the facility was laid in January 1941. The colonial government joined the venture in April, and the first aircraft made by HAL, a Harlow PC-5A trainer, took off three months later. The factory encountered difficulties such as the Axis powers targeting ships that were carrying parts from Europe.
After Japan joined the conflict, the government of India took over HAL in April 1942. That month Japan bombed Pawley's aircraft factory in Loiwing, China, on the Burmese border, prompting the relocation of its resources to Bangalore. The United States Army Tenth Air Force reached an agreement with the Indian government to use the factory, whose focus shifted from aircraft manufacture to the repair and overhaul of aircraft and engines. In September 1943, the Americans began running the facility. A wide range of planes passed through the factory, including C-47 Dakotas, B-25 Mitchells, and B-24 Liberators. The airfield had a taxiway between the runway and Bellandur Lake, where pilots carried out test flights of seaplanes such as the Catalina amphibian. The flags of the United Kingdom, United States, and kingdom of Mysore stood at the entrance to the factory during this period. After the war concluded, the Indian government reassumed control of the HAL factory in December 1945.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was formed on 1 October 1964 (the Registrar of Companies has a registration date of 16 August 1963) when Hindustan Aircraft Limited joined the consortium formed in June by the IAF Aircraft Manufacturing Depot, Kanpur (at the time manufacturing HS748 under licence) and the group recently set up to manufacture MiG-21 under licence, with its new factories planned in Koraput, Nasik and Hyderabad. Flight International 1964 The acronym HAL therefore remained. Though HAL was not used actively for developing newer models of fighter jets, except for the HF-24 Marut, the company has played a crucial role in modernisation of the Indian Air Force. In 1957, the company started manufacturing Bristol Siddeley Orpheus jet engines under licence at a new factory located in Bengaluru.
During the 1980s, HAL's operations saw a rapid increase, which resulted in the development of new indigenous aircraft such as the HAL Tejas and HAL Dhruv. HAL also developed an advanced version of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, known as MiG-21 Bison, which increased its life-span by more than 20 years. HAL has also obtained several multimillion-dollar contracts from leading international aerospace firms such as Airbus, Boeing, and Honeywell to manufacture aircraft spare parts and engines.
By 2012, HAL was reportedly bogged down in the details of production and has been slipping on its schedules. The Hindu Business Line, 3 March 2012. On 1 April 2015, HAL reconstituted its Board with TS Raju as CMD, S Subrahmanyan as Director (Operations), VM Chamola as Director (HR), CA Ramana Rao as Director (Finance), and D K Venkatesh as Director (Engineering & R&D). There are two government nominees on the board and six independent directors.
In March 2017, HAL's chairman and managing director, T Suvarna Raju, announced that the company had finalised plans for an indigenisation drive. The company plans to produce nearly 1,000 military helicopters, including Kamov 226, LCH (Light Combat Helicopter), ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter), and over 100 planes over the next 10 years. HAL will manufacture the Kamov 226T helicopter under a joint venture agreement with Russian defence manufacturers. The Kamov 226T will replace the country's fleet of Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. Over the next 5 years, HAL will carry out major upgrades of almost the entire fighter fleet of the Indian Air Force, including Su-30MKI, Jaguars, Mirage, and Hawk jets, to make them "more lethal". The company will also deliver 123 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to the IAF from 2018 to 2019, at a rate of 16 jets per year. LCH production will now take place in a newly built Light Combat Helicopter Production Hangar at Helicopter Division in HAL Complex.
In view of the Make in India policy and to increase the share of defence exports to achieve the target of $5 billion by 2025, HAL is planning to set up logistic bases in Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam with priority target for Southeast Asia, West Asia and North African markets. It would not only help to promote HAL products but also act as a service centre for Soviet/Russian origin equipment.
In October 2024, HAL was given Maharatna status, which allows the company to have more operational and financial autonomy. In 2025, HAL invited private Indian companies to enter into a joint venture for the production of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, in which HAL would hold a 50% stake and four private companies would each hold a 12.5% stake.
In June 2025, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) transferred the technology of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle to HAL, which was the first time ISRO transferred the entire technology of a rocket to a single company, for which HAL paid to ISRO. Also in June 2025, HAL and Safran Aircraft Engines (SAE), a French aircraft engine manufacturing company, signed an agreement for HAL to manufacture rotating parts for SAE's LEAP engines.
Aero Engine Research and Development Centre On 29 December 2023, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane opened a new design and testing facility at the HAL Aero Engine Research and Development Centre (AERDC) in Bengaluru. AERDC is involved in the development, testing and commercialisation of HAL's line of in-house aero-engines.
Operations
One of the largest aerospace companies in Asia, HAL has an annual turnover of over 3 billion. More than 40% of HAL's revenues come from international deals to manufacture aircraft engines, spare parts, and other aircraft materials. A partial list of major operations undertaken by HAL includes the following:
HAL Helicopter Factory, Tumakuru On 3 January 2016, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, unveiled a plaque for the foundation stone for a helicopter manufacturing complex for HAL in the Tumakuru district. The factory, with an initial investment of , would be the assembly line for the HAL Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) and would start functioning from 2018–19. The facility was expected to deliver 30 helicopters annually from 2019–20 onwards. The rate would be upgraded to 60 units per year in phase II within three to four years. Meanwhile, the per unit cost of LUH in 2016 was estimated at . The limited series production (LSP), however, would be conducted at HAL's Bengaluru facility. On 22 February 2019, the CEO of the Helicopter Complex signed an MoU with the CPWD to execute stage 2 of the project which included infrastructure development works. During 2021, it was stated that the Tumakuru assembly line would become fully operational from March 2022.
On 6 February 2023, Modi inaugurated the Tumakuru greenfield manufacturing facility which is reportedly the largest in India. A phase III expansion to increase annual production rate to 90 units is also planned. The production portfolio of HAL Helicopter Factory will be further expanded to include the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and the Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH). The facility will also handle the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of the Civil ALH, LCH, LUH as well as cater to potential export orders of the Civil LUH. The company plans to manufacture over 1,000 helicopters in the range of 3–15 tonne class over 20 years. Sub-facilities include a Heli-Runway, Flight Hangar, Final Assembly Hangar, Structure Assembly Hangar, Air Traffic Control and other support functions.
On 13 April 2026, Secretary (Defence Production), Sanjeev Kumar, inaugurated the LCH production line and an Automated Storage & Retrieval System (ASRS) at the factory. He also visited the LUH production facility and the LCH equipping hangar.
HAL Airport HAL owns and operates HAL Airport (ICAO:VOBG) in Bengaluru. The airport served as Bengaluru's only airport until all operations shifted to the Kempegowda International Airport in 2008. With respect to defence activities, HAL and the Indian military perform test flights from the airfield.
The airport is still used for occasional non-scheduled civilian operations, including VIP aircraft movements, charter flights, and air ambulances. The airport offers a VIP lounge, air-freight warehouse, and maintenance hangar. The closed civil enclave possessed two terminals, one for domestic flights and the other for international services.
Nashik Airfield HAL also manages AFS Ojhar and the Nashik Airport in Maharastra. The Airfield is located near to HAL's production lines and is used to primarily for development, testing and construction of aircraft for the Indian Armed Forces. It is home to a maintenance station of the Indian Air Force and also supports widebody commercial and cargo services.
Kanpur Airfield HAL maintains an MRO base and Base Repair Depots for the Indian Armed forces at Kanpur Airport . The airport also headquarters the Transport Aircraft Division of HAL which previously produced HS 748 Avro and currently manufactures Dornier 228 for Indian Armed Forces as well as commercial market.
International agreements