Discover the inspiring story of Walchand Hirachand Doshi, the visionary founder of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Learn how his determination and foresight laid the foundation for India's aerospace industry.
You must have heard the name of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. Do you know who laid the foundation of this company that made India self-reliant? That person is known as Walchand Hirachand Doshi. You must have heard the names of big businessmen and business houses of the country. But you hardly know the name of this person. Whose company, which he started, has a market cap of Rs 2,93,458 crore i.e. about Rs 3 lakh crore today. At one time the government had bought the maximum stake in HAL. This is the reason why it is known as a government company today.
Who was Walchand Doshi?
Walchand Doshi was born in the year 1891. He started his career with the family business. The family was associated with the work of cloth and shipbuilding. But from the very beginning, Walchand's interest was in the aircraft business. He understood well the need for a domestic aircraft manufacturing industry for the strength of the country.
In 1945, the government bought most of the stake
The thing is of that time, when the country was not independent. In 1940, he laid the foundation of Hindustan Aircraft Works in Bangalore. This was India's first aircraft manufacturing industry. The company initially used to repair foreign aircraft. But Walchand wanted India to build its aircraft. A deal was struck in 1945. In which the government bought most of the stake in the company. The name of the company was also changed. Since then it is known as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
The first basic trainer aircraft was in 1963
HAL started with the work of repairing aircraft and soon started making trainers, transport, and fighter aircraft. The basic trainer aircraft was built for the Air Force in 1963, which was the HAL HJT-36. This aircraft played an important role in training Indian pilots. Currently, HAL is recognized as a major company in the global aerospace industry. Now it makes everything from fighter jets to helicopters and UAVs.
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