- Hyderabad’s Global Aerospace Story: Praveen PA on Telangana’s Winning Formula
- Why Global OEMs Choose Telangana: Inside India’s Fastest-Growing Aerospace Hub
- Drones, MRO, Space & Skilling: Telangana’s Blueprint for Aviation Leadership
By Sangeeta Saxena
Hyderabad. 31 January 2026. Telangana has emerged as one of India’s most critical hubs for the defence and aerospace ecosystem by combining decades of legacy defence manufacturing with a modern, innovation-driven industrial base. With Hyderabad at its core, the state hosts a dense network of public sector units, DRDO laboratories, global OEM joint ventures, and over 1,500 MSMEs that supply precision components and systems to aerospace, defence, space and aviation programmes worldwide. The ecosystem’s strength lies not just in platform manufacturing but in tier-1, tier-2 and tier-3 capabilities in avionics, electronics, composites, materials, propulsion components and missile subsystems, many of which are exported.
The state’s proactive policies, world-class infrastructure, focus on skilling, drone and composite parks, and international partnerships with aerospace clusters in France, the UK and beyond have positioned it as a preferred destination for global aerospace majors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Safran, GE, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney, Rafael and others. The state’s ability to integrate traditional defence expertise with emerging technologies in UAVs, AI, cyber and space startups makes it a pivotal contributor to India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat vision and its transition from a net importer to a leading exporter in defence and aerospace.
On the sidelines of Wings India 2026 at Begumpet, Aviation & Defence Universe (ADU) spoke with Praveen PA, Director – Defence & Aerospace, Government of Telangana, as Hyderabad hosted the show for the fifth time. From global OEM investments and record exports to skilling, drones, airports and ecosystem partnerships with France and beyond, Praveen detailed how Telangana has steadily evolved into India’s most mature aerospace and defence manufacturing hub—and why the state won the Best State for Promotion of Aviation Ecosystem award for a record fifth consecutive time.
ADU. We are meeting here at Wings India and it’s in your city, Praveen. So how does it feel? It’s the day three.
Praveen PA. This is the fifth time that Hyderabad is hosting Wings India. And this time I think the show has taken greater heights with a much larger participation. The stalls have fairly a world-class feel this time with lots of civilian aircrafts, helicopters and trainer aircrafts on display. For the first time we have Russian commercial aircrafts on display along with Boeing, Airbus and Embraer fleet, which is again a major highlight for the show. And there’s great amount of interest in Indian civil aviation sector and almost all the key business leaders had turned up. Besides the CEO roundtable, there were several high-profile roundtables around aviation, aircraft manufacturing, drones, MROs, flight training and skilling etc and a wide range of industry and regulatory aspects were discussed. The views and feedback from the industry were noted by the Ministry and DGCA officials. We have a very progressive government and a Minister who really follows through. So hopefully we’ll see a lot of policy reforms and further infrastructure push in coming days.
The air shows was a great attraction. We have aerobatics shows by Mark Jeffery and team from UK, and Suryakiran team from Indian Air Force which has thrilled the crowd with their spectacular maneuvers and air display. Suddenly there’s this joy of festivity of aeroplanes flying all around Hyderabad. Overall I think it’s been a fairly successful show for the city.
ADU. Congratulations on Telangana winning the best state award. The state is progressing indeed.
Praveen PA. Wings India 2026 is very special for Telangana because it’s the fifth consecutive time that the State is winning a best state award from Ministry of Civil Aviation and FICCI. And this time the award is for the Best state for promotion of aviation ecosystem. The consecutive awards in recognition to the holistic growth in the aviation and aerospace ecosystem has been very encouraging. Lat year we saw the inauguration of the largest Civil Engine MRO by Safran inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister. We also broke ground for the first military Engine MRO for Safran outside of France in Hyderabad in true demonstration of the Civil – Military MRO synergy sought by the industry. There was great progress in Aerospace, UAV and Space sector too with several mega projects and JVs announced or inaugurated in the State.
On the Civil Aviation side, the state has made a landmark milestone when it handed over the land for the expansion and operationalization of Warangal airport to be developed has the second commercial airport in the state. This will fulfil a long cherished dream of the state to have more airports established in the state. The state is also planning to have a couple of Greenfield and Brownfield airports in RCS routes and exploring the feasibility of sea planes in the coming years
Aerospace and component manufacturing is where Hyderabad tops the charts. Irrespective of where the final assembly is finalized for major Make in India programmes, a significant share of the component manufacturing and supply chain sourcing are planned from Hyderabad ecosystem We have also emerged as a strong MRO, UAV and Aero Engine hub in India, and more investments are in pipeline under these verticals. So, the going as been good and our ecosystem is viewed by the industry as the most vibrant Aerospace ecosystem in India today.
ADU. Telangana does not have a coastline. Does that reduce naval sector opportunity and tilt more towards aerospace?
Praveen PA. See, every ecosystem has its strength and probably some of the shortfalls. While we may not be the first choice for pure marine platform development that require extensive testing in oceans, the 
opportunities under naval aerospace hasn’t got affected. We have recently delivered the large UAVs built by Adani- Elbit joint venture in Hyderabad to the Navy. Similarly Austria base Schiebel manufacturers their camcopters in Hyderabad which are also supplied to the Navy.
The State has several large water bodies and lakes such as Nagarjuna Sagar where it is proposed to host manufacturing and testing of Seaplanes and naval products. As Hyderabad host a mature military grade manufacturing ecosystem, a significant share of component manufacturing and systems/ subsystem level work also taken up by Hyderabad based DPSUs and MSME cluster, even for the naval programmes.
ADU. What about land systems?
Praveen PA. For Land system, we have the ordinance factory at Medak. They have a lot of local MSMEs who part of its supply chain. Historically aerospace and defence industry in Telangana has developed in and around Hyderabad which makes the land relatively expensive and hence our ecosystem has been attracting investments which are fairly intensive in investment and employment on a per acre basis.
To cater to the needs of the land systems and ammunitions industry where large extend is land and buffer zones are required, the government is now planning to create few aerospace and defense parks in remote districts where large extent of land can be provided to these industry at a relatively affordable rate
ADU. How does Telangana’s ecosystem go beyond the traditional silos of defence, aerospace, space and nuclear sectors?
Praveen PA. Traditionally we tend to look at the industrial sectors in silos like defense, aerospace, space and nuclear sector. But at a supply chain level, the differentiation is thin wherein tier 1, tier 2 precision engineering MSMEs cater to all the sectors alike, based on available orders, their installed capacity and qualifications. In fact the mature and skilled ecosystem in Telangana contributing significantly to Make in India and indigenisation needs of all such critical sectors of national importance.
The skills available in Hyderabad are not easy replicate because for 60–70 years, industrialization in our region has grown around DRDO labs and DPSUs engaged in military-grade manufacturing. This low volume, high value, zero tolerance culture is ingrained in the workforce. It is generally seen that other engineering clusters, such as automotive clusters, find it challenging to quickly adapt to aerospace-level standards.
We also have a strong IT ecosystem and several IT and engineering the units are working with Aerospace industry in the areas of AI,AR/VR, cyber security, electronic surveillance and navigation, another new age technologies being deployed in aerospace and defence. Application of AI and emerging technologies in Aerospace and defence will be focus area for future.
ADU. How is Telangana leveraging this mature ecosystem to support emerging sectors like space, drones, AI and advanced manufacturing?
Praveen PA. Initially Hyderabad was developed as a Defence R&D and a missile hub and in the last decade we emerged as a very strong aerospace hub. We have a multiple electronic manufacturing, precision engineering and material and composite clusters . Telangana is in fact the first state to come up with a composites park because they are considered the material of the future for sectors such as aviation.
Telangana was the first state to come up with a drone policy and today we have a very strong UAV manufacturing ecosystem in the State. The government had engaged drone startups in various pilot projects to test and validate use cases including medicine and organ transport, surveillance during COVID, afforestation, mosquito control and mining monitoring etc. TASL, Adani – Elbit UAV, JSW – Shield, Schiebel, Axiscades, Zen technologies, etc are leading in drone/ antidrone space.
To meet the skilling requirements of emerging technologies, the Government is upgrading ITIs and polytechnics into Advanced Technology Centres with Tata Technologies such that local workforce skilled in Industry 4.0 can be made readily available. There is strong focus on AI, cybersecurity and unmanned technologies.
AI and GCCs are a big theme for the Government and several GCCs are being attracted to the State by progressive polices and highly skilled tech talent available in Hyderabad. Safran, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines have recently established their GCC in Hyderabad. Given our clear focus on promoting AI enterprises, we expect more investments in AI and Emerging technology segment catering to industries including Aviation, Aerospace and defence.
ADU. What role have global partnerships and international collaborations played in strengthening Telangana’s aerospace and defence ecosystem?
Praveen PA. Telangana has focused heavily on ecosystem-level global partnerships. We have a long-standing cooperation agreement with Bordeaux Metropole in France, and recently signed an MoU with Aerospace Valley, which includes the Toulouse Airbus ecosystem and Bordeaux Dassault ecosystem. We had a partnership with French MRO training institute Aerocampus Aquitaine which has its representative in 
Hyderabad for seven years to provide need-based training to regional Aerospace industries. We also had partnerships with Cranfield University UK for mid-career skill upgrades. Telangana regularly participates in global air shows and defence expos, often presenting case studies of how global OEMs has succeeded in establishing their mega factories in Telangana. This attracted several industrial delegations from France, Spain, Italy, Japan and the UK to visit out ecosystem and explore partnerships. Last year, over 100 French companies had visited Telangana. These engagements helped Telangana position itself as a strong US, UK, French, Israeli and Japanese partner ecosystem.
ADU. How do you see Telangana’s growth story reflected in OEM investments and recognition at the national level?
Praveen PA. The Safran story is a great example. In 2018, Safran started with a small ₹60 crore electrical project. In 2020 they announced a ₹450 crore aero engine parts facility, In 2022 they announced their first Aero Engine MRO in India – ₹1,500 crore LEAP engine MRO which is also the largest Engine MRO for Safran globally. Alongside they also announced an 800 seater Technology center (GCC) in Hyderabad. In 2024, Safran announced its first military engine MRO outside of France in Hyderabad – the MRO for M88 engine used by Rafale fighter jets. Thus a single OEM has brought over ₹2,000 crore investment and 2,500 high-value jobs into the ecosystem over a short period of 6 years.
This model is being replicated with other OEMs which have committed repeat investments in Hyderabad every few years. The 1500 strong MSME supply chain, many of whom are already integrated into global supply chains are a major plus along with supply of abundant skilled and affordable manpower. Hyderabad was also ranked globally No 1 Aerospace city of future on Cost effectiveness by Financial Times FDA rankings 2020
The robust policies, world-class infrastructure, ease of doing business, incentives and policy support makes Telangana a globally competitive aerospace manufacturing and export hub positioned strongly against alternative global ecosystems like Mexico, Malaysia and the Philippines. Our year-on-year 30% growth in the sector and 100% growth in exports recorded in 2025-26 validate this, and it is personally gratifying to be part of this journey.
This Q&A captures Telangana’s aerospace, defence and aviation ecosystem exactly as articulated by Praveen PA at Wings India 2026, reflecting the maturity, export strength, OEM presence and policy-driven growth of the state.Telangana’s aerospace journey is a story of policy continuity, ecosystem maturity and global trust. From MSME growth and record exports to drone leadership, skilling innovation, airport expansion and international partnerships, Hyderabad has emerged as India’s most mature aerospace and defence manufacturing hub. Wings India 2026 and the fifth Best State Award stand as validation of this sustained transformation. It is definitely a state in spotlight.
As told to Sangeeta Saxena
