The 1st Aerospace HR Round Table, held on February 22, 2014, in Bengaluru, focused on talent management challenges and opportunities within the Indian aerospace industry. Key discussions highlighted the importance of improving workforce training, the need for industry-academia collaboration, and addressing manpower shortages to support the sector's growth. Notable speakers emphasized the necessity for coordinated efforts among policy makers, industry leaders, and educational institutions to develop a skilled workforce for the future.

1. 1st Aerospace HR Round Table
Theme: Challenges & Opportunities for Talent Management in Aerospace Industry
February 22, 2014, Leela Palace Hotel, Bengaluru
Executive
Summary
“While extraordinary products and unique services still afford a
competitive advantage, the one advantage that stands the test of time..
is people.”

2. - Mark Salsbury
The inaugural edition of the Aerospace HR Round Table conference took place on Saturday, the February
22, 2014 at the prestigious Leela Palace Hotel at Bengaluru on the theme “Challenges &
Opportunities for Talent Management in Aerospace Industry”.
The roundtable focused on the human resource, training & education challenges in the Indian aerospace
industry and the way forward. The roundtable was spread over five distinct sessions, including a thought
provoking CEO panel discussion. Session-wise details were as follows:
Inaugural Session
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Welcome Address – Dr. Parag Diwan, Vice Chancellor, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies
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Opening Address – The year that was – Dr. Vivek Lall, President & CEO, New Venture, Reliance
Industries Ltd.
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Keynote Address – R.K. Tyagi, Chairman, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
CEO Panel Discussion
INDIA ON THE AEROSPACE CURVE: EMERGING OPPORTUNITY FOR AEROSPACE IN INDIA
Moderator: Dr. Vivek Lall, President & CEO, New Venture, Reliance Industries Ltd.
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Lokesh Ranjan Srivastava, CEO, Tata HAL Technologies Ltd.
Ashok Saxena, Director ADS Group Ltd.
Naresh Palta, CEO, Aerospace & Defence, Maini Group
Chris Rao, Vice President, UTC Aerospace Systems
Session 1
HUMAN CAPITAL IMPERATIVES FOR A NEW BUSINESS ERA IN INDIAN AEROSPACE INDUSTRY
Session Chairman: Anantha Agasthya, Executive Director, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
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Human Capital Strategy for Competitive Advantage
Dayanand L. Guddin, Chief HR Officer, Mahindra Aero structures Pvt. Ltd.
Session 2
STRATEGY & OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES: EDUCATION, TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
Session Chairman: Ramanand Puttige, Vice President (Talent Management), Infotech Enterprises Ltd.
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Creative Alignment between Industry & Academia to Build Entry Level Talent Pipeline
Dr. Parag Diwan, Vice Chancellor, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies
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Specialized Industry-Academia Linkages for Research & Education
A. Victor Sundararaj, Principal, Education & Research, Engineering Academy, Infosys Ltd.

3. Session 3
EMPLOYMENT IN AEROSPACE INDUSTRY: ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT MANPOWER AVAILABILITY
IN INDIAN AEROSPACE INDUSTRY
Session Chairman: D. Rajiv Krishnan, Partner & India Leader – People & Organization, Ernst & Young LLP
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Sourcing of Industry Ready Manpower
T. Sudhakar Rao, former Executive Director (HR), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
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Skills & Competencies Required for Onboarding to Aerospace
Sujit Pant, Sr. Advisor, Mahindra Aerostructures Pvt. Ltd.
Session 4
LEADERSHIP FOR A NEW MARKETPLACE IN THE INDIAN AEROSPACE BUSINESS
Session Chairman: N. Shekar, Vice President, Corporate Strategy & Managing Director, India, Continental
DataGraphics
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Entrepreneurial Avenues in Present Aerospace Scenario in India
Wg. Cdr. R. Prahalad (Retd.), Aerospace & Defense Division, Maini Group
45 Companies, 6 CEOs, 100+ Delegates, the 1st Aerospace HR Round Table was welcomed with open arms
by the industry, which is one of the fastest-growing aerospace markets in the world, and is striving to
meet its human resource challenges to create a unique place for itself.
Here is an attempt to summarize the key discussions and action points for each session in the subsequent
pages.

4. Welcome Address
Dr. Parag Diwan, Vice Chancellor, UPES welcomed Mr. R.K. Tyagi, Chairman,
HAL the keynote speaker and the program director Dr. Vivek Lall, President
& CEO, Reliance Industries Ltd. to the conference.
Dr. Diwan kicked off the conference presenting to the audience a brief
picture of the current status of the aerospace sector in India, and the way
forward. Dr. Diwan also spoke about the contributions UPES, as an institute
is making with specific reference to the aerospace industry in India. He
further emphasized on the synergy required between policy, industry and
academia to cater to the huge employment potential in aerospace industry
in the country.
Opening Address
Dr. Vivek Lall, while delivering his opening address spoke about the challenges and the opportunities that
lie ahead for the talent management in aerospace industry.
Dr. Lall, very interestingly presented the global scenario of the sector and
focused on how the changes are happening at world level, and in turn are
affecting the Indian aerospace market. Dr. Lall mentioned about the various
challenges faced by the industry, but high on the list, according to Dr. Lall
is the work force related issue. The industry, Dr. Lall added, is facing acute
shortage of trained workforce such as aerospace engineers, etc..
Today the sector is at cross roads, said Dr. Lall. On one hand it is facing lot
of challenges while on the other hand there are ample opportunities in the
sector. Dr. Lall stated that the sector is a multidisciplinary area, and needs
to be approached in a holistic manner, and a special emphasis needs to be
given to the upgradation and restructuring of the education system in
India. According to Dr. Lall the quality of technical education in India is a major concern. He highlighted
that programs should be designed to meet the specific requirements of the aerospace industry. Dr. Lall,
felt that aging workforce across the globe in the aerospace sector especially in India is cause for concern
as the replacement would not be adequate unless the challenges are taken head-on.

5. Keynote Address
Mr. R.K. Tyagi, Chairman, HAL, in his keynote address underlined the
importance of investment in people, and emphasized that investment in
people is far more superior to investment in any other resource, which can
bring thousand times dividends as compared to investment in technology,
etc.
Mr. Tyagi Talked about the various business challenges such as increased
competition, increased demand as well as the HR challenges faced by the
Indian aerospace industry today. Some of the macro challenges, according
to Mr. Tyagi are, very low percentage of population, only 2%, is vocationally
trained, lack of proper training infrastructure in the country, low investment
in research and development, skill upgradation and sourcing the right talent.
According to Mr. Tyagi, the only solution to the problem is the need of a coordinated effort by the policy
makers, industry stalwarts and academia. He also threw some light on the initiatives taken by HAL in this
direction.
Dr. Tyagi, added, “We need to ensure quality-oriented specialized training of international standards and
requirements, backed by university affiliation and aviation industry, not just mushrooming of training
institutions. India is yet to get its first aviation university whereas some countries have more than six
aviation universities”.
Indian Aerospace Industry, as per Mr. Tyagi is in the process of ballooning into a massive revenue and
employment generator in the coming decade and to tap this, India needs better training and education
infrastructure supported by a pragmatic policy-industry-academia ecosystem.
CEO Panel
Next in the sequence was the CEO Panel
Discussion, comprising of some industry
stalwarts, and they all unanimously focused
on the CEO mind set regarding the human
capital building at all the levels of the
management.
All the CEOs highlighted the need of public
private partnership in creating human
capital, challenges related to material
management, infrastructure issues,
modeling and simulation issues, need for
identification of skill set for aerospace
industry and finally stressed on the need for academia, industry linkages.
They also focused on the need for dedicated education and training facilities for aerospace industry in
India. They also felt the need for talent management at the micro level.

6. Mr. Ashok Saxena, Director ADS Group Ltd. emphasized on the needs of civil aviation, and added that
traditionally India has been spending hugely on military aviation sector but the country will have to look
at the aerospace sector in totality. Mr. Saxena also brought out the MRO issues and the efforts of National
Skill Development Corporation in finalizing the various skill sets required by the sector.
Mr. Lokesh Ranjan Srivastava, CEO, Tata HAL Technologies Ltd. stated that the industry has to grow six
times of the present level, and in the process would require around one lakh people by 2020. Mr.
Srivastava focused on the issues of human capital building, material manufacturing and development
issues.
Mr. Naresh Palta, CEO, Aerospace & Defence, Maini Group felt the need for talent management covering
the entire spectrum of business, and lastly, Mr. Chris Rao, Vice President, UTC Aerospace Systems shared
his thoughts on the various efforts the industry is making in creating human capital.
While concluding CEO Panel Discussion, all the CEO reiterated the need for an integrate effort from all
stakeholders, i.e. the academia, industry and the policy makers. The session ended with a lively Q&A
session.
Session One: Human Capital Imperatives for A New Business Era In Indian
Aerospace Industry
Session Chairman, Mr. Anantha Agasthya, Executive Director,
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., started the first plenary session
with a focus on:
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Quality issues with respect to hiring
Ensuring talent pipeline
Proactive role by HR managers
HR needs to be an integral part of project management.
Smooth industrial relations and creating inspiring work
place
Sub-topic, Human Capital Strategy for Competitive Advantage,
addressed by Mr. Dayanand L. Guddin, Chief HR Officer,
Mahindra Aero structures Pvt. Ltd., discussed some pertinent
issues, like:
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Alignment of business strategy with the HR strategy
Identification of talent
Engagement strategy
Cultural integration
Performance management and
Differentiating HR architecture

7. Session Two: Strategy & Operational Activities: Education, Training &
Development
Session Chairman, Mr. Ramanand Puttige, Vice
President (Talent Management), Infotech
Enterprises Ltd. started the session by
discussing the eastern markets, which
according to him, is the future of aerospace
sector. He spoke about the key strengths of
Indian aerospace industry, and some of the
strengths he cited were cost effectiveness,
mature processes, and growth in India’s
capabilities, developments in structures,
engines, designs and avionics. He also added
that existing facilities for basic and specialized
training therefore need to be periodically
reviewed
Dr. Parag Diwan, Vice Chancellor, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, while presenting on the
creative alignment between industry & academia to build entry level talent pipeline, discussed the
industry outlook, wherein he discussed the current status of the industry and highlighted the future
growth opportunities in the sector. He focused on the contribution of UPES in aerospace industry. Dr.
Diwan also highlighted UPES’s contributions to the sector by providing industry ready manpower through
customized courses.
Specialized industry-academia linkages for research & education, the next sub-topic, addressed by A.
Victor Sundararaj, Principal, Education & Research, Engineering Academy, Infosys Ltd., spoke about the
skill requirements of the aerospace sector. He also highlighted Infosys’s initiatives with specific reference
to the industry, and stressed on how some of the programs such as campus connect, internship programs
can help the companies to ensure proper
supply of manpower.
Session Three: Employment in
Aerospace Industry: Assessment of
Current Manpower Availability in
Indian Aerospace Industry
Mr. D. Rajiv Krishnan, Partner & India Leader –
People & Organization, Ernst & Young LLP, and
the session chairman started the session by
talking about the growing demand for the
Indian engineers globally. He felt that
aerospace sector needs a people with right
attitude as there is no margin for errors in the
aerospace sector.

8. Mr. T. Sudhakar Rao, former Executive Director (HR), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., while speaking on the
sourcing of industry ready manpower mentioned that industry needs to take proactive role in helping
academia to create industry ready manpower. Industry needs to ensure that curriculum is being updated
and it should be industry oriented. Mr. Rao emphasized on the responsible behavior by the industry and
felt a need for collaboration between industry and academia.
Skills & competencies required for onboarding to aerospace, next sub-topic of the session was addressed
by a seasoned aerospace professional, Mr. Sujit Pant, Sr. Advisor, Mahindra Aerostructures Pvt. Ltd. Mr.
Pant mentioned the various opportunities such as growth of aerospace parks, growing civil and military
aerospace sectors, emerging Indian markets etc., while talking about the challenges faced by India.
Some of the challenges mentioned by Mr. Pant were inadequate training, insufficient research and
development, dispersed production centers, inadequate FDI, lack of coordination among different
industry players. Mr. Pant also highlighted the need of ability to think, ability to work with customers,
ability to apply tools, ability to communicate etc. Some of the competencies that are required by the
professionals in this field are airline management, fleet management, maintenance, parts procurement,
said Mr. Pant. He also highlighted the need for domain specific course curriculum and holding
conferences such as aerospace HR round table.
Session Four: Leadership for a New Marketplace
in the Indian Aerospace Business
Session Chairman, Mr. N. Shekar, Vice President, Corporate
Strategy & Managing Director, India, Continental
DataGraphics mentioned that leadership is about nurturing
leadership in others, while opening the session on leadership
for a new marketplace in the Indian aerospace business. Mr.
Shekar felt that the true leadership must come from the
government. He also added the need for the reverse brain
drain in order to meet the workforce related challenges.
Wg. Cdr. R. Prahalad (Retd.), Aerospace & Defense Division,
Maini Group, addressing the final topic of the conference,
entrepreneurial avenues in present aerospace scenario in
India, stated that the true leadership is about creating the
culture professional discipline and safety consciousness in the organization. He felt that the people should
be hired for attitude and trained for skills. Wg. Cdr. Prahalad further mentioned that HR in aerospace
sector must work at grass root level and felt a need for HR entrepreneurship.
Mr. Vijay Pahwa, Sr. Director – Corporate Relations, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies
delivered the vote of thanks.