World’s largest aerospace-grade titanium unit inaugurated in Lucknow

LUCKNOW: Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated India's largest titanium and superalloy materials plant operated by Aerolloy Technologies Limited, a PTC Industries Limited subsidiary, and laid the foundation stones for additional state-of-the-art facilities under India's first strategic materials technology complex at the Lucknow node of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor.The newly inaugurated titanium plant spread across 50 acre has an annual capacity of 6,000 tonnes and stands as the world's largest single-site titanium remelting facility.Advanced technologies such as Vacuum Arc Remelting (VAR), Electron Beam (EB), Plasma Arc Melting (PAM), and Vacuum Induction Melting (VIM) enable India to produce aerospace-grade materials domestically.Alongside the titanium plant, foundation stones for seven additional advanced facilities were laid, including the aerospace precision castings plant, which will enable single crystal castings production crucial for jet engines; the aerospace forge shop & mill products plant, which will eliminate the need for imports of billets, bars, and plates for aerospace applications; and the aerospace precision machining shop, which will allow the export of ready-to-assemble ultra-precision CNC machined components.Further, the strategic powder metallurgy facility is expected to produce Additive manufacturing-grade metal powders, placing India among an elite group of nations.The STrIDE Academy will function as a skilling hub for CNC, robotics, welding, and mechatronics, while the R&D Centre will drive alloy and process breakthroughs. Collaboration with UK's Trac Precision Solutions will support India in mastering single crystal airfoils production for jet engines.A company spokesperson stated that India's annual defence-grade materials imports, worth Rs 14,000 crore, were projected to rise to Rs 35,000 crore by 2026, but the Aerolloy complex would help reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.The defence minister remarked, "We are not just inaugurating a plant—we are securing India's strategic future."Chairman of the company Sachin Agarwal stated, "The complex was more than steel and machinery—it was a symbol of scientific prowess, economic strength, and geopolitical resilience. India was no longer just a consumer of defence equipment; it was becoming a manufacturer, an innovator, and an exporter."