Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday urged the French companies to forge joint ventures with Indian firms to make world-class weapon systems here as part of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ policy of the Government.
He made this suggestion when a high-level delegation of French company Safran Group led by its Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Olivier Andries called on the defence minister here, the defence ministry said.
Safran is one of the leading original equipment manufacturers of advanced aircraft engines for civil and fighter jets.
During the meeting, the CEO briefed Rajnath of their company’s plans to set up a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India for overhaul of LEAP-1A & LEAP-1B engines in use by Indian and foreign commercial airlines.
The MRO facility through direct foreign investment of $US 150 million in Hyderabad is expected to create 500-600 highly skilled jobs. The facility will be able to overhaul over 250 engines per year in the beginning.
The CEO also briefed the defence minister of their plan to inaugurate this week Safran Aircraft Engines and Safran Electrical and Power India Pvt Ltd. - both to come up in Hyderabad and Safran-Hindustan Aeronautics Limited( HAL) Aircraft Engines as a joint venture in Bengaluru.
Safran aircraft engine, Hyderabad, with an investment of Euro 36 million and located on 10 acres land in the Hyderabad SEZ, will produce parts and components for advanced aircraft engines including rotating seals.
Safran Electrical and Power India Pvt Ltd will produce harness for civil and fighter jets. The joint venture between Safran and HAL is for production of rigid piping for aircraft engines including helicopter engines. The joint venture is expected to hire 160 new highly skilled personnel.
The CEO of Safran outlined his company’s long-term plan in co-development and co-production of advanced jet engines and transfer of technology as per existing policy of the Indian government. The Defence Minister noted the great importance India attaches to the strategic partnership with France.