Hyderabad, July 30 - The work on Tata Advanced Systems' facility on the outskirts of Hyderabad to manufacture Sikorsky helicopter cabins formally began Thursday as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy unveiled a plaque for the project.

The facility to assemble fuselages of Sikorsky S-92 helicopters is coming up at the Aerospace and Precision Engineering Special Economic Zone (SEZ) being developed by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) in Adibatla.

Tata Advanced Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, will invest Rs.10 billion (Rs.1,000 crore) in the facility, scheduled to be completed by 2010.

Unveiling the plaque at a function held at a hotel this evening, the chief minister said three companies including Tata would be investing Rs.30 billion (Rs.3,000 crore) in the SEZ. The state government has allotted 300 acres of land to these companies in the SEZ, said to be India's first aerospace SEZ.

Nova Integrated Systems, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Israel Aerospace Industries, will invest around Rs.5 billion (Rs.500 crore) in the SEZ to set up a defence system manufacturing facility.

As an initial investment, foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $50 million has been committed for this project. Nova is finalising plans to commence construction and build a world-class facility for these defence systems, bringing in and developing cutting-edge technology to India, said a statement from Nova.