Godrej Aerospace, one of India’s major technology firms in the defence and aerospace sector. IDI met with Kaustubh Shukla, Head- Strategic Projects, Godrej & Boyce, during the DefExpo22 to discuss company’s vision for defence sector. Excerpts

On company’s focus areas

Kaustubh Shukla – We serve the defence sector in different ways. For the past three decades, we have been working with DRDO essentially. We started small first making components, then graduating to sub-systems and then systems. We also have programmes where we are participating platforms. We have pitched for some platforms on no cost no commitment basis. Trials are going on. Fairly broad based work but it’s a modest size business. We have two divisions which focus on defence – one division which looks after Naval and land and the other division on aerospace.

On participation in Hypersonic BrahMos

Shukla – We hope to and why not! It is going hypersonic, its engine will change, the level of technology will change but the core technology required to deal with the materials, manufacturing will remain and our association with BrahMos has been good, mutually beneficial. We have scaled up production as they needed, met all the standards. We look forward to continuing with that business going forward.

On competence to participate in hypersonic missile

Shukla – That would require newer manufacturing technologies. That’s a manageable challenge. You may not have worked on those materials, if at all, but I don’t think given the width of the material we have handled, I think we have the capability to work with all sorts of material even non-metallic, like ceramics. I think we have fair degree of competence to work with any material.

On component business

Shukla – for BrahMos we supply five major components of air frame including surface control, nose cap, wing, fin, and booster. These are sub-system of air frame. There are programme where we do smaller version of this. When we make a system we even provide component of it.

On going forward

Shukla – Broadly, building a launcher requires certain set of skill. You have under structure, power source, launch control, fire control, canisters, hydraulics, and pneumatics that go with it. Having worked with at least three or four types of launchers we have capability to build launchers for any other missile program.

On indigenous engine

Shukla – We virtually make whole engine for launch. If I have to distil the capability, then it is capability to machine, fabricate and test different types of materials for very high specifications. Therefore we should be able to deploy them in the newer engine programmes. We don’t design the engine. We don’t have that capability. We are looking forward to support and therefore we bid for sub-system manufacturing for engine program and we are anyway work for some of the global majors.

We have to play on our strength. Today do we have the strength to design a component from ground up based on specifications, no, individual components we can do. I think that is the right way to do it.

We have to grow organically. We have a vision to go for sure. When we are making parts for engines as in when there will be demand we will look forward to it. Couple of our customers have recognised us to set up assembly lines for the engine parts.

We look at this as national vision. So, we are willing to be active partners for the national ecosystem. Gone are the days when one organisation can claim to do it on its own. It can be done but would be time consuming. In Godrej you get what you see. We will not over project.

On emerging technologies

Shukla – we want to track emerging technologies, when it will become now enough to know what is the trend and when it will become indispensable and when it will disrupt what we are doing. The focus is on to better what we already have. Even here in terms of cost down and improving yield that’s an ongoing program. Additive manufacturing and composites are the two lines and off course whole lot of new technologies in Industry 4.0 that not to serve customers but to improve our operations which also help our customer.

On future growth

Shukla – we have a unique model of two separate divisions. Its capital intensive to run yet we chose to become good at what we are doing. We have now developed whole lot of capabilities and therefore when the opportunity will come each one of them can spawn business and going forward if everything goes well we can see an exponential growth.