HAL, IAF get integrated portal for better support

BENGALURU: Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Friday operationalised a unique real-time information-sharing portal that would make work processes of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) projects for the Indian Air Force (IAF) mutually transparent and quicker for the two organisations while ensuring higher quality as per IAF’s combat requirements.

The operationalising of this portal, called HAL-Vayusena Inventory (HAVAI) portal, comes just two days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally handed over the Rs 48,000 crore project of producing and delivering 83 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft to IAF by 2030. This portal, however, would be relevant for all projects of HAL for IAF from henceforth.

The proof of concept for the new portal was cleared for development in September 2015 by the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar under the Digital India initiative, and the project had the active involvement of Air Head Quarters in New Delhi and Director of IAF’s enterprise resource planning platform, Integrated Materials Management Online System (IMMOLS).

While HAL and IAF each had their respective enterprise resource planning platforms – Industrial Financial System for HAL, and IMMOLS for IAF – the two organisations never had an integrated portal that could provide each other data on the requirements, project status and supply needs of the other.

Air Chief Bhadauria said, “The e-portal will bolster the competencies of IAF and HAL and lead to increased serviceability of IAF weapon systems. This would facilitate secure information sharing between IAF and HAL for better coordination, improved transparency and faster decision-making.”HAL Chairman and Managing Director R Madhavan also spoke on the occasion.