With an eye on future sales in the region, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) plans to establish a Dhruv helicopter maintenance center in South America. “HAL is in the process of setting up a regional maintenance center for Dhruv to cover after-sales service, technical and logistic support in the entire Latin American region,” M.M. Pallam Raju, deputy defense minister, told India’s parliament Aug. 8.

A global tender for operating helicopter services in the hilly terrain of an Indian state will soon be floated. The landlocked northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which has seen a spate of recent helicopter crashes, has decided to invite proposals from airline companies in India and abroad to reintroduce helicopter services, which were suspended in May. The state government will take appropriate measures to ensure that only helicopters with advanced technology and good flying records operate in the state, Chief Minister Jarbom Gamlin says.

Mahindra Aerospace, the aviation division of India’s Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., held discussions last week with aircraft part manufacturers in Europe and the U.S. for a stake purchase.