The Hindu Business Line : Bombardier bullish on Indian market

The Canada based Bombardier is bullish on the prospects in the railways, metro and aviation sectors, the Chairman of the board and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Laurent Beaudoin, has said.

"We are definitely interested in the Indian market and are willing to consider manufacturing of rail locos here if we are chosen. There have been no negotiations as yet," said Mr Laurent.

Indian Railways proposes to set up an electric loco manufacturing capacity in joint venture with global major, where the Railways would have 26 per cent ownership. However, the partner would be decided through a global bidding.

The metro rail market is another area that Bombardier is keen on.

"Besides, we are also interested in the subway lines here. We will be participating in the bid for supplying coaches in phase-II of the Delhi Metro project although a local partner has not yet been finalised," said Mr Laurent. The company has already tied up with the Reliance group for the Hyderabad metro project.

The company, that estimates that India would require 350 aircraft over the next 20 years, has held discussions with the domestic airlines for sale of both regional jets and turbo prop aircraft. "Besides, negotiations are also on with a number of potential customers for our business jets. However, there are no immediate plans for a manufacturing base in India although we do plan to open a purchasing office," the CEO said. On the company's plans to increase people in India, he said that they would look at increasing the size of its design centre in Hyderabad based on demand. He, however, declined to share further details of the likely investment.

Bombardier has 600 employees in India - 150 in its Vadodara propulsion system manufacturing unit, 150 in Hyderabad design unit, 150 in Bangalore design unit and another 150 in its Bangalore technical publication unit with CapGemini.