Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed a contract with the Government of Mauritius (GoM) for export of one Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)-MkIII for the Mauritius Police Force, it said on Wednesday.

Mauritius already operates a ALH and Dornier Do-228 aircraft built by HAL.

“With this contract, HAL and Government of Mauritius have further strengthened the long-standing business relations spanning over three decades,” a HAL statement said.

The contract was signed by B.K. Tripathy, General Manager, Helicopter Division-HAL and O.K. Dabidin, Secretary of Home Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Government of Mauritius, recently at HAL’s Transport Aircraft Division, Kanpur.

The ALH Mk III is a multi-role, multi-mission helicopter in the 5.5 tonne category in extensive use by the Indian armed forces and has also been exported.

More than 335 ALHs have been produced till date logging around 3,40,000 cumulative flying hours. HAL also ensures technical assistance and product support to the customer to ensure healthy serviceability of the helicopter, the statement noted.

Indian has significantly scaled up its capacity building assistance to littoral states in the Indian Ocean as part of efforts to augment their national capacities. There has also been a particular focus on increasing defence exports in the last few years.