With the fleet of Rafale fighter aircrafts set to increase after the Indian Navy starts inducting its marine version from 2028, French aerospace firm Safran has announced a new aero engine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Hyderabad.

Safran Aircraft Engine Services India, an entity, has been created to specifically handle the MRO of M88 engines used in the Dassault-produced Rafale aircraft.

The MRO will support the maintenance operations of M88 engines that power Rafale fighters jets which are already part of the Air Force fleet. The same engines are also fitted into the Rafale M, which India is buying from France through a contract signed between the two governments on April 28, this year. Deliveries for 26 Rafale Ms will begin from 2028 and end in 2030.

The MRO project is expected to generate around 150 jobs by the end of 2025, the Telangana government stated in a statement to the media. Additional phases of the upcoming project could add up to 750 more positions, the State government stated.

During a meeting with Telangana Minister for IT & Industries D Sridhar Babu, Pierre Fernandez, General Manager of Safran Aerospace, said, “We look forward to expanding our presence with the upcoming Safran Aircraft Engine Services India, focused on LEAP engine MRO services and scheduled to be operational before the end of the year, as well as a newly announced fourth site to provide maintenance for the M88 military jet engine powering the Dassault Rafale.”

Hyderabad is emerging as a space for defence manufacturing and R&D. Earlier in June, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd and Dassault Aviation inked a pact to manufacture the Rafale fighter aircraft fuselage in Hyderabad.

India had prevailed upon France to open its MRO facility here for local maintenance of jets used by the IAF and later by the Indian Navy.

Around 50 fourth-generation Mirage-2000s, approximately 80 Jaguars and 36 Rafale fighter aircraft were inducted into the IAF in the last few years.

India has also pitched itself as a global hub for MRO facilities for maritime and aviation aircrafts.

Published on June 25, 2025