New Delhi, February 12 British defence giant Rolls-Royce announced a major plan on Thursday to expand its business in India across vital sectors of defence and energy, including co-developing a next-generation combat jet engine.
The announcement came a day after the company's CEO, Tufan Erginbilgic, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Under this ambitious initiative, Rolls-Royce aims to more than double its workforce in India to approximately 10,000 people, and increase local supply chain sourcing by 10 times, with a long-term goal of building on its decades-old presence in the country.
"As we grow our participation in programs across India's defence, aviation, and energy sectors, we will expand our ecosystem in India, as we have successfully done in other countries," Erginbilgic said.
The leading aero-engine maker has already been working to make India its third "home market" outside the UK, in line with a plan to unlock the full potential of opportunities across a range of domains, including jet engines, naval propulsion, land systems, and advanced engineering.
"Our ambitions for India are based on the strong foundation of our decades-long presence in the country, our growing footprint, our deep industry partnerships, and our technologies that provide a competitive advantage," the Rolls-Royce CEO said.
"We are determined to partner with India on its 'Atmanirbhar' journey, by developing indigenous propulsion capabilities, providing sustained power to critical infrastructure and industry, and expanding local manufacturing for global supply chains," he said.
Among the major defence projects, Rolls-Royce is looking to develop a next-generation aero engine in India as a priority to power the combat jets that New Delhi will produce under the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program.
More than 1,400 Rolls-Royce engines are currently powering various defence platforms, such as the Jaguar combat aircraft and Hawk trainers of the Indian Air Force and Navy, the Arjun Main Battle Tanks of the Army, and a variety of vessels and submarines of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, including the prestigious anti-submarine warfare shallow water crafts and the P17 Alpha frigates.
The company announced on Thursday its intention to scale up its business in India to support future programs and partnerships across defence, civil aviation, and energy.
Rolls-Royce said its ambition is to make India a strategic home market, supporting the country's Viksit Bharat vision for national security and deterrence, energy resilience, infrastructure development, and air connectivity.
"Rolls-Royce is currently exploring opportunities in India that include the potential co-development of a next-generation combat jet engine, as well as partnerships to localise and manufacture engines for the Indian Army, Navy, and Coast Guard, and potentially power solutions for critical infrastructure and industry," it said.
"These initiatives could more than double the size of the workforce that supports Rolls-Royce and its partners, to approximately 10,000 people in India," the company said in a statement.
It said Rolls-Royce believes the opportunities it is looking to secure could lead to a 10-fold increase in the company's supply chain sourcing from India, a move which it noted would nurture and benefit many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
In his meeting with Modi, Erginbilgic discussed the company's plan to be a part of 'Viksit Bharat' (developed India) and how its advanced technologies can support India's growth plans and Atmanirbhar journey in critical sectors of the economy, the British firm said in a readout.
"We believe our unique portfolio of advanced capabilities can help us grow our presence and partnerships further, to power, protect, and connect India for decades to come," Erginbilgic said.
Sashi Mukundan, the executive vice president of Rolls-Royce India, accompanied Erginbilgic in the meeting with the prime minister.
Currently, more than 4,000 people are working across the Rolls-Royce ecosystem in India, including 2,800 engineers who contribute to global programs across its businesses.
The company's long-standing industrial footprint includes its manufacturing joint ventures with HAL and Force Motors, as well as sourcing partnerships with over 100 different vendors, including Tata, Bharat Forge, Godrej, Azad Engineering, and many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Rolls-Royce recently inaugurated its newly expanded Global Capability and Innovation Centre in Bengaluru, which houses digital capabilities, enterprise services, and engineering teams supporting its civil aerospace and defence divisions.
The centre serves global corporate functions while advancing digital and engineering expertise, according to the company.