In a record of sorts, aviation major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) ushered in the largest batch of over 500 Management and Design Trainees on to its fold in Bangalore on Monday.

     The formal induction ceremony, held at the NIMHANS Convention Centre, saw young devotees of aviation in technical, human resources and materials management streams taking a pledge to propel the Company forward.

     In his inaugural address, HAL’s Director Personnel Mr Sanjeev Sahi said that never in the past had the company inducted so many youngsters at one go. “Working in HAL is a service to our Nation, a proud factor only few youngsters in this country can boast of. Your ideas today will become the driving force of our Nation tomorrow,” Mr Sahi said. 

     Outlining the performance of the company, Mr Sahi said: “HAL has joined the elite group of billion dollar companies in the year 2004-‘05. Our profits have surpassed the Rs 1,000 crore per year mark. We now have 16 divisions and nine R&D centres. Two more divisions are in the making. We have been delivering good results continuously, and by 2012, with our combined effort, we will make HAL a 3-billion-dollar company.”

Congratulating the new batch, Director LCA Mr Yogesh Kumar said the future of HAL is safe in the hands of the young talents. Sharing gems from his own vast experience in various projects related to the history of aeronautical engineering in India, he said: “The first batch of management trainees were inducted into the company in 1968. Those batches comprised of merely 30 to 40 trainees. Now, almost all divisions of the company are headed by members from the first batch.” 

     Mr Kumar said the 60-plus-year old company had blossomed into the Mecca of engineering in the country. “For any fresh engineering graduate, HAL could be a dream workplace because nowhere else could one find such a large number of functional projects in the high-end technology sector,” he added.  

     Two of the former management trainees from the HAL Management Academy, Krishnamurthy and Prekshit Sharma, shared their experiences with the new batch of trainees. 

     HAL Management Academy (HMA) Dean Mr Ananth Agasthya and General Manager (Personnel and Administration) Mr Sudhakar Rao also spoke on the occasion. 

     These trainees selected from over thousands of aspirants will now undergo a one-year training programme with HMA. On completion of the training programme, the trainees will be posted to various divisions of HAL.