Rolls-Royce plans major expansion in India, eyes jet engine co-development
Rolls-Royce has announced plans to significantly expand its operations in India, including co-developing a next-generation combat jet engine. The company aims to double its workforce, strengthen local sourcing and support India’s Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat goals
New Delhi: British defence giant Rolls-Royce on Thursday announced a major plan to scale up its business in India across key sectors such as defence and energy, including the co-development of a next-generation combat jet engine.
The announcement came a day after the company’s CEO, Tufan Erginbilgic, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Under the ambitious initiative, Rolls-Royce is looking to more than double the size of its workforce to approximately 10,000 people in India and achieve a 10-fold increase in local supply chain sourcing, with a long-term goal of building on its decades-old presence in the country.
“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,” Erginbilgic said.
The leading aero-engine maker has been working to make India its third “home market” outside the UK, in line with a plan to unlock opportunities across domains including jet engines, naval propulsion, land systems and advanced engineering.
“Our ambitions for India are built on the strong foundations of our decades-long presence in the country, our growing footprint, our deep industry partnerships and our competitively advantaged technologies,” the Rolls-Royce CEO said.
“We are 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,” he said.
Among major defence projects, Rolls-Royce is eyeing the development of a next-generation aero engine in India to power combat jets under the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.
More than 1,400 Rolls-Royce engines are currently powering defence platforms such as Jaguar combat aircraft and Hawk trainers of the Indian Air Force and Navy, Arjun main battle tanks of the Army, and a variety of vessels and submarines of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, including anti-submarine warfare shallow water crafts and P17 Alpha frigates.
The company reiterated its intention to scale up operations in India to support future programmes 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, energy resilience, infrastructure development and air connectivity.
It is also exploring opportunities for the potential co-development of a next-generation combat jet engine, partnerships to localise and manufacture engines for the Indian armed forces, and power solutions for critical infrastructure and industry, the company 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,” it added.
The company said the opportunities could lead to a 10-fold increase in supply chain sourcing from India, benefiting many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
In his meeting with Modi, Erginbilgic discussed the company’s plan to be part of Viksit Bharat and how its advanced technologies can support India’s growth and Atmanirbhar goals, the firm said.
“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.
Sashi Mukundan, executive vice president of Rolls-Royce India, accompanied Erginbilgic at the meeting.
At present, more than 4,000 people work across the Rolls-Royce ecosystem in India, including 2,800 engineers contributing to global programmes.
The company’s industrial footprint includes manufacturing joint ventures with HAL and Force Motors, and sourcing partnerships with over 100 vendors, including Tata, Bharat Forge, Godrej and Azad Engineering.
Rolls-Royce recently inaugurated its expanded Global Capability and Innovation Centre in Bengaluru, housing digital, enterprise services and engineering teams supporting its civil aerospace and defence divisions. According to the company, the centre also serves global corporate functions while advancing digital and engineering expertise.