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| _ Ashok SAXENA |
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Ashok Saxena is an aerospace industry veteran. He superannuated as Managing Director and Board Member of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India’s largest aerospace [public sector] company.
He is the recipient of several honors and awards for his outstanding contribution to the Indian aerospace sector. During his illustrious 35-year career at HAL, he pioneered state-of-the-art projects in aircraft, aero-engines, helicopters, and led their design, development, manufacturing, servicing, upgradation, modernization, and indigenization. Product lines that achieved excellence under his leadership - Jaguar, Mirage 2000, MIG, Tejas (Light Combat Aircraft), intermediate trainer aircraft, Cheetah, Chetak helicopters, AN32, Canberra.
He enhanced HAL’s participation in the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) space programs - specifically satellites, cryotanks, and launch vehicles. Under his leadership, ISRO invested millions of dollars in HAL’s aerospace division to create new facilities. He served as a diplomat in the Indian Embassy in Moscow fostering strong ties between India and the erstwhile USSR [now Russia], in the field of aerospace.
During his tenure, HAL’s Bangalore complex posted phenomenal growth and reached a turnover of over 300 million dollars in FY 2004-05, a significant achievement in the context of India’s nascent aerospace industry. He put India on the world map by creating more than 90% of HAL’s exports from the Bangalore complex. These exports were to Airbus Industrie, Dassault Aviation, Snecma Motors, Turbomeca, Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Boeing, GE, Pratt & Whitney, Moog Controls, Honeywell, Hamilton Sunstrand, Israel Aircraft Industry, among others. He was responsible for the creation of the two joint ventures - Indo-Russian Aviation Limited and HAL-Snecma.
He is an alumnus of the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Aeronautical Society of India, and Institution of Production Engineers. He is on the Board of several aerospace companies. He serves a Director at UK Advanced Engineering, Europe’s biggest trade organization for aerospace, defense and security industries. He has held important positions in various professional bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), All India Management Association (AIMA), Aeronautical Society of India, and Bangalore Management Association. He is a member of the aerospace core group for the government of Karnataka and CII-Karnataka to promote aerospace industry in Karnataka and have it emerge as a global hub for aerospace industries.
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