Airbus brings India operation under one entity, says move to aid 'Make in India'

NEW DELHI: The Airbus Group has brought all its Indian operations under one entity, Airbus Group India Private Ltd, in a move which the aviation major said would allow it, among other things, to "greatly support" the ' Make in India' initiative.

India is the first international market where local operations are being brought under a single company as part of the Group's 'one roof' policy, Airbus Group said in a release here. The new entity would be headed by Pierre de Bausset, a veteran at the company and its former corporate secretary.

The Euro 60.7 billion Group comprises Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters.

"Given India's importance for us, we have implemented a new organisational structure there with Pierre in charge. There will be more internal coordination, pooling of resources and a far more efficient engagement with our local stakeholders.

"Formation of a single company will also greatly support our 'Make in India' plans and allow us to take a leap in our relationship with the country," said Airbus Group chief executive, Tom Enders.

Pierre takes over from Yves Guillaume, who has spent nine years in India, the release said.

"India already takes a centre-stage role in our international activities and we want to even increase its contribution to our products.

"We support Prime Minister Modi's 'Make in India' call and are ready to manufacture in India, for India and the world," Enders had said when Modi had visited the Airbus facility in Toulouse during his visit to France in April.

"Synergies, growth, consistency and coherence are the main tenets of my vision for a robust Airbus Group India. My mandate is to further boost Group's collaboration with India and embed it durably in the overall Airbus Group's industrial organisation," Bausset said in the release.

"A mature Indian aerospace and defence sector is in our own interest. It would open up more opportunities for us to partner with domestic players to fulfil requirements of our local customers as well as jointly target export markets," he added.

The Group is tying up with Indian partners to target several ongoing defence acquisition programmes.

Recently, in association with Tata Group, it won the lone bid to offer the C295 aircraft as a replacement for the Indian Air Force's ageing Avro aircraft.

On the helicopter front, the Group is in discussions with Indian companies to finalise teaming arrangements for various tenders.

"We aim to firmly embed Indian industry, public and private, in our global value chain and achieve $2 billion in cumulative sourcing from India by 2020," Bausset said, adding that there is plenty of potential to make India a hub for engineering and innovation for the Group.