New Delhi: Ajay Kumar Shrivastava has assumed charge as Director (Engineering and R&D) at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Wednesday. Prior to this elevation, he was serving as Executive Director of the Aircraft Research & Design Centre (ARDC) at HAL.
With a distinguished career spanning over 37 years, Shrivastava joined HAL in 1988 as a Management Trainee (Technical) and has since held several key leadership roles. He has served as Head of both the Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) and the Transport Aircraft Research and Design Centre (TARDC), contributing significantly to HAL’s indigenous aircraft development initiatives.
Shrivastava has been instrumental in several major projects including the avionics upgrade of platforms such as the HS-748, Do-228, Sea-King helicopter, and the IL-78. Under his leadership, HAL achieved a landmark milestone by securing DGCA certification for two variants of the Do-228 aircraft—making them the first indigenous civil transport aircraft in India to receive Type Certification. He also played a key role in the type certification of the Hindustan-228 aircraft.
He has led critical efforts in indigenising vital components for aircraft manufacturing and has extensive experience in the design and development of trainer, fighter, transport, and rotary-wing aircraft. Among his notable achievements is his leadership in upgrading the avionics suite of the Hindustan Jet Trainer-36 ‘Yashas’, which was successfully showcased at Aero India 2025.
An alumnus of HBTI, Kanpur, Shrivastava holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering and a master’s in Aviation Safety and Aircraft Airworthiness from ENAC/ENSICA, Toulouse, France. He is also a certified Project Management Professional. His contributions to the aeronautics sector have been recognised with the prestigious FASIA (French Aeronautics & Space Industry Award).
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