STRATFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft said Friday it signed an agreement with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. to manufacture helicopter cabins in India.
The first Sikorsky S-92 cabin is scheduled for delivery in late 2010 from a plant to be built by Tata Advanced Systems in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Sikorsky President Jeffrey P. Pino said the Stratford, Conn.-based subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. is tapping into India's work force in India's growing aerospace market.
Ratan N. Tata, chairman of parent company Tata Sons, said the manufacture of the S-92 cabin in India is a "significant first step in the growth of India as a global hub for aerospace manufacturing."
S-92 helicopters perform search and rescue missions, transport oil workers to offshore platforms and other assignments.
The agreement is the first for the manufacture of Sikorsky products in India, though other United Technologies subsidiaries, such as jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney, aerospace manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand, Otis elevator, are located in more than 100 offices and factories in nearly 50 cities in India, employing about 4,000 workers, Sikorsky said.
Shares of United Technologies fell 75 cents, to $54.80 in morning trading.