Berhampur: Veteran aerospace engineer Kota Harinarayan – considered the father of the indigenously-built Tejas Light Combat Aircraft– took a trip down memory lane during a visit to his home city of Berhampur Monday, where he was felicitated by a bevy of old friends.
Harinarayan, former chief designer of light fighter planes at the Defence Research and Development Organisation, spearheaded the Tejas project at a time when India was majorly dependent upon Russia for its fighter jet needs.
“It feels nice to be visiting my place of birth,” Harinarayan said at a felicitation programme held at the Town Hall, surrounded by members of the ex-students’ union of the City High School where he studied. Also present were members of the Rotary Club and Forum for Ganjam. Sitting next to him was his wife Nirmala.
“The pool of talent that our country has today is enormous. I’m sure a day will come when India will soon begin exporting fighter aircraft,” Harinarayan said.
Born at Gouda Sahi of Badabazar in 1943, Harinarayan cracked both engineering and medical entrances after passing out of City High School. He chose to pursue engineering and obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from Banaras Hindu University. After watching a fighter jet perform a sortie, Harinarayan was attracted towards a career in aerospace and soon after did a course in aerospace engineering at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
Later, he went to work with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in Bangalore and later joined DRDO.
In 1982, Harinarayan became the chief designer at HAL’s Nasik division and later joined as ADA Director of DRDO-Bangalore. He became the programme director of DRDO and the chief designer of light fighter planes.
The Government of Indian conferred upon him the Padma Shri award in 2002 for his outstanding service to the nation.
Reminiscing on his journey with Tejas, Harinarayan said there was a time when the project was considered a write-off. “India was heavily reliant upon Russia for war planes. That is when we felt the need for an indigenous fighter aircraft, and thus Tejas was born. However, many people were sceptical of the project. The same people are now vying to become partners in the project now,” he said.
“I hope to see Tejas becoming a full-fledged part of the Indian Air Force very soon,” Harinarayan added.
Harinarayan said he has always wanted to play a role in the development of Berhampur and southern Orissa, and added that he had had discussions with the state government setting up of an airstrip at Rangeilunda and appointment of a permanent director at Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) in Berhampur.
“I have many fond memories of growing up in Berhampur and I would love to be a part of its development,” Harinarayan said.
Sub-collector Laxmidhar Sethi, MLA Ramesh Chandra Chyaupatnaik, BDA chairman Subas Maharana and many others were present during his felicitation programme. PNN