India is at the top of 10 key focus nations for the €13-billion French major Thales, which has a presence in diverse fields such as defence, civil aviation and ground transportation in India, including upgrading of Mirage 2000 for the Indian Air Force.

“We devised a list of 10 key strategic countries in which we decided to grow our business and develop for the next 10 years. India is on the top of the list,” Patrice Caine, Chairman and CEO, Thales, told BusinessLine .

Caine is in India and is slated to meet top Defence Ministry officials this week. Caine said Thales is looking to double its turnover to €700 million by 2019 from €300 million now. The workforce in India, which is at 300 now, should also double by then, he said.

“Ninety-nine per cent of the workforce (here) is Indian. So it is a genuine Indian capability,” Caine said. The company looks to double or (make) even bigger than that the size of business in India. Thales is also looking to spend 20 per cent of its India turnover in R&D. “The R&D will be in both defence and civil,” Caine said.

Rafale deal Asked when Thales expects the 36-aircraft Rafale deal to close, Caine said, “First, let’s close the government-to-government discussion. Then we will discuss contract closing.” Thales is a component supplier in the deal.

The French major also sees opportunities to co-develop products with BEL in the radar field. Using its joint venture with Samtel, it also plans to start production of displays and avionics of Mirage 2000 for its upgrade programme soon, in line with the ‘Make in India’ mission. While Thales said it would like more clarity on India’s defence offset policy wherein it is supposed to source 30 per cent locally, the company has taken its offset commitments very seriously, according to Caine. Additionally, Thales also has a corporate-level initiative ‘Go to India’ to promote India as a sourcing destination for not just its own units but for other foreign companies as well. The company shares its vendor details with other foreign groups and those of suppliers that it has qualified for its industry in India, without any fee. Thales, which sources from both large and smaller companies in India, said this is a sales-driven effort to build supply chain and technology transfer partnerships.

In India, the company generates two-third of its business from the defence sector, with transportation segment accounting for the rest, which is exactly the opposite of its business in China.

Asked if the company is looking to further invest in India when the defence sector opens up to 49 per cent investment, Caine said they are “pragmatic” and would not invest for the sake of investing. Thales has worked in countries with different models of investing, including the US where the country permits 100 per cent investment in FDI.

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