SIFL to turn forgings supplier for BrahMos

THRISSUR: The Steel and Industrial Forgings Ltd, a state public sector undertaking located at Athani, will soon start manufacturing critical parts for the BrahMos missile. SIFL won the bid floated by BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd (BAPL) earlier this week for a consideration of Rs 11 crore, beating to the post the likes of Bharat Forge, Pune and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Bangalore. “As we have the required facilities and the skill at SIFL, we will carry out aluminium and titanium forgings work for BrahMos,” a senior manager at SIFL told Express.”There was tough competition in the bidding process. We had competitors like Bharat Forge, world’s second largest forging company, and the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd,” he said.The SIFL had carried out forging worth Rs 30 crore for the nuclear submarine project of the Indian Navy four years ago. BrahMos Chief Executive Officer A Sivathanu Pillai had visited the SIFL facility at Athani on May 23. This is the first bid won by the SIFL from the BrahMos. To make a presence in the aerospace market, the SIFL is on the anvil of completing the procedures to get aerospace standardisation, AS9100.“The BAPL has asked us to complete the forgings in 18 months. Clearly, they are satisfied with our ability and the facilities at SIFL,” the officer said. The SIFL is already supplying forged solutions to various units of the Defence Ministry.