India's Defence minister AK Antony is set to inaugurate Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's (HAL) Strategic Electronics Factory at Kasargod in Kerala.

The new unit of the HAL will manufacture advanced avionics for combat aircraft and helicopters. The facility is spread across 196 acres at Kerala Infrastructure Development Park and it took four years for the facility to be developed.

RK Tyagi, HAL chairman said, "Avionics plays a major role in the functioning of modern aircraft and contributes significantly to the value of aircraft and helicopters. Considering its huge potential in the coming years, a new manufacturing facility for a variety of avionics has been established at Kasargod."

The state government of Kerala had provided the land for the project and construction had begun in 2008. The Kasargod site was based on various factors including the availability of land, power, water and logistic facilities.

The first phase of the factory has seven buildings in an area of 4,250 sq metres and has been built with an investment of Rs. 66 crore. Currently, the facility is involved in the production of airborne special purpose computers such as mission computer, display processor, radar computers and open architect mission computer for SU-30, LCA and MiG-27 upgrade aircraft.

Under the phase two, the facility will manufacture nics for medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) such as automatic electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, electronic warfare (EW) suite, communication and navigation equipment, and other projects.