Rolls-Royce plans India expansion; eyes defence engine co-development, local manufacturing

The release added that Tufan Erginbilgic, Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Officer, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss the company’s desire to be part of Viksit Bharat.

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Rolls-Royce on Thursday announced it plans to scale-up its business in India to support future programmes and partnerships across defence, civil aviation and energy. According to the official press release, the company’s aim 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.It added that the firm 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, Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard and potentially power solutions for critical infrastructure and industry. “These initiatives could more than double the size of the workforce that supports Rolls-Royce and its partners, to about 10,000 people in India,” it added.

Rolls-Royce believes that 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 would nurture and benefit many small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The release added that Tufan Erginbilgic, Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Officer, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss the company’s desire to be part of Viksit Bharat and how its advanced technologies can support India’s growth plans and Atmanirbhar journey in critical sectors of the economy.

“As we grow our participation in programmes across India’s defence, aviation and energy sectors, we will expand our ecosystem in India, as we have done successfully in other countries,” said Erginbilgic.

He added that the company is determined to partner 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.“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,” he said.As India advances its next generation military capabilities, Rolls-Royce with the UK Government, has offered to co-develop a 120 kN class combat jet engine core that could be India’s fastest route to an indigenous next-generation engine, the release added.

It said that the co-development will provide full technology transfer with IP ownership for India, supported by a dedicated design complex and manufacturing capabilities that will unlock significant job creation.

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