Airbus touts its ‘Make In India’ credentials

The Airbus Group produced over $500 million worth of aero-structures, components, materials, and services in India during 2015.

In the five years up to 2020, the company hopes to achieve a cumulative $2 billion in procurement from India, says Airbus Group in a statement.

“Indian suppliers are a cornerstone of our globalisation strategy,” said Airbus chief procurement officer Klaus Richter. “Many of the projects with our Indian partners have been very successful and we aim to further strengthen these relationships in the future.”

The statement lists several Indian companies with which Airbus contracts work including Hindustan Aeronautics (A320 forward passenger doors), Mahindra Aerospace (components), Tata Advanced Systems (composite wing parts), Wipro (actuators), and Infosys (IT services).

Overall, Indian-based companies support a number of Airbus platforms including the A380, A350, A320 family, A330, C295W, A400M, Tiger, and NH90.

A key policy of prime minister Nahendra Modi’s is his “Make In India” campaign, which includes the indigenous production of defence equipment in the subcontinent.

The Indian government has spoken to several defence aerospace firms such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Saab in recent months about the possibility of producing fighter aircraft in-country.

New Delhi had planned to obtain 36 Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft off the shelf following the abandonment of a plan to obtain 128 Rafales under its Medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement.

New Delhi is also interested in developing a Regional Transport Aircraft, which would include substantial input from foreign suppliers.