State-owned aerospace and defence PSU, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and British luxury automobile maker, Rolls-Royce have inked a pact to establish packaging, installation, marketing and services support for Rolls-Royce MT30 marine engines in India.
Through this MoU, the two companies will expand their long-standing partnership in India and work together in the area of marine applications for the first time, Bengaluru-headquartered HAL said in a statement.
“Rolls-Royce has been our valued partner for several decades. We now look forward to working together to explore business opportunities in marine applications,” HAL CMD R Madhavan said.
This partnership will leverage the ‘rich’ experience of HALs IMGT Division that works on marine gas turbines with Indian shipyards. Further, HAL is also exploring the option of using MT7 marine engine on the hovercraft being planned by the shipyards in India, Madhavan added
According to Tom Bell, President, Rolls-Royce Defence, with India focussing more on modernisation and self-reliance in defence the company looks to introduce the MT30 to customers in India in collaboration with HAL. “Designed for naval platforms of the future, the MT30 is perfectly equipped to meet the Indian Navy’s present and future needs,” Bell said.
Meanwhile, HAL in a statement said that MT30 is the world’s most power-dense, best-in-class naval gas turbine currently in service with naval programmes worldwide in various propulsion arrangements across seven ship types. “Derived from the Trent aero engine family, the MT30 has the potential to provide next-generation capabilities to the Indian Navy’s future fleet,” the statement said.
