The French aviation, defence and space major Airbus Group has projected huge business and sourcing opportunities unfolding in India with the Government relaxing the foreign direct investment norms and encouraging domestic manufacturing and souring.

Venkat Katkuri, Head of India Subcontinent, Head of Sales-India, Airbus Defence & Space, said through its domestic aerospace supplier partnerships, Airbus Group is already making in India and targets over $2 billion cumulative sourcing volume from India over the next five years, until 2020, covering both civil and defence businesses.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Second Defence & Aerosupply India, a global conclave here today, he said, “We are in the midst of a tremendous transformation, full of opportunities, but with a number of challenges. There is intense effort for accelerating the growth of aerospace and defence industry in the country by building new partnerships and strengthening existing ones.”

“India has a huge requirement for modern and advanced defence platforms. With the Government of India linking the aerospace and defence sector to the Make in India, it provides a special opportunity to engage with the country and various other manufacturing companies,” he said.

The recent move of the Government to liberalise the foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, the Airbus Group as a leader in aerospace and defence, is keen to engage with upcoming opportunities. Airbus Commercial has supported the growth of the civil aviation and has built a deep supply chain and sourcing network ion India, where more than 5000 people are employed.

Airbus has already had a collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems and also with Mahindra for helicopter. It is also in the process of increasing its presence in the servicing, engineering and maintenance network in the country, he explained.

“India is expected to be among the fast growing aerospace and defence manufacturing hubs over the next 5-10 years fuelled by the domestic demand. Having created a strong base over the years we see greater engagement here,” he said.

comment COMMENT NOW