Thiruvananthapuram, May 18 (KNN) Safran Group, a major player in the defence industry on Wednesday opened a unit in Kerala and started its operations.

Kerala’s Industries Minister P Rajeev inaugurated the test centre for aerospace and defence products set up near Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram.

This move is expected to boost the state's efforts to become the nation's hub in the aerospace sector.

Safran provides services in the fields of satellite communication and satellite tracking, along with manufacturing critical machinery for fighter aircraft, rockets and missiles.

It has also been revealed through a Facebook post that the Minister Rajeev said Safran plans to turn its first unit in Kerala into a space test centre in the Asia Pacific region in the near future.

He said the company has also expressed interest in starting an assembling/manufacturing unit for Safran Space Products in Kerala itself.

Safran also aims to produce 50 per cent of the products required by India's space agency ISRO, the minister said, adding that it will give strength to Kerala's efforts to become the nation's hub in the aerospace sector.  (KNN Bureau)