Bangalore, May 26 (IANS): Indian IT bellwether Wipro's Infrastructure Engineering division tied up with European Aeronautic Defence and Space company's Spanish subsidiary CESA (Compania De Sistemas Aeronauticos S.A.) to set up a $15 million component manufacturing unit for the aerospace and defence sector, the software major said Wednesday.

"The agreement envisages technology transfer and manufacturing workload for aerospace actuators and precision engineered components from CESA to Wipro," the company said in a statement here.

Aerospace actuators are used in various applications in aircraft, including landing gear, flight control systems, engines and various utilities.

The Bangalore-based Wipro's Infrastructure Engineering is a leader in precision engineered hydraulic actuators and components.

Global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of construction and earthmoving equipment, material handling equipment, farm agricultural machines, mining equipment, industrial machinery and heavy commercial vehicles are among its customers in Asia-Pacific and Europe.

"Aerospace and defence sector is a huge opportunity area for us to leverage our core competences in precision engineering and manufacturing and supplying components to tier-1 systems providers. Growth in this industry will be driven by offset opportunities as well as growth in the sector in India and emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region," said Wipro Infrastructure Engineering president Pratik Kumar.

The greenfield venture will be set up in the new special economic zone (SEZ) for aerospace at Devanahalli, about 40 km from this tech hub and near the Bangalore international airport. Production is scheduled to begin by the end of 2012.

"Apart from the advantage of having a strong outsourcing partner for our programmes, we will have a credible partner in Wipro to meet our offset obligations in India. We will also explore opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region and other emerging markets," said CESA managing director Jose Leal.