Aircraft engine manufacturer Safran is heading for India. Olivier Andriès, general manager of the French engine manufacturer, has inaugurated no less than three new factories in recent days. The first two are located in Hyderabad, in the state of Telangana, in southern India. They will produce electrical wiring in one, and rotating engine parts in the other. Finally, a third location, in Bangalore (in the state of Karnataka, in the South), is devoted to the production of pipes for the LEAP engine, the one that propels the A320neo and the 737 MAX. It is the subject of a 50-50 partnership with the Indian industrial group Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The three centers will employ nearly 1,500 people. To mark the event, the group had chosen to invite the Indian and international press.
In total, the group plans to invest more than 200 million euros by 2025 to strengthen its presence in the subcontinent. Upon examination, the implementation of these three new locations owes absolutely nothing to chance. After China, India is beginning to establish itself as a new Eldorado for aeronautics. Safran does not want to miss the boat. “We are going to give a boost” to our footprint in India, warned Mr. Andriès. “Ambition” principal, displayed by the general manager, is “to support the extremely strong growth of the market in India”. We understand it, because it is the strongest in the world. “It will double in the next ten years”rubs his hands in advance the boss of Safran.
Dizzy
The numbers give the spin. While air traffic growth forecasts agree on an annual average of 3.9% per year worldwide, India is going it alone with an expected increase of 6.2%. At the same time, the Indian fleet will double by 2041, going from just under 850 aircraft to more than 1,600. Airbus is even more optimistic. According to him, over the next two decades, Indian companies will need nearly 1,800 medium-haul aircraft and just under 450 long-haul aircraft. A real boom, to the point “that the growth rate in India is even higher than in China”is almost surprised Mr. Andriès.
It must be said that the margin of progress is very important. Today, “The theft rate per capita is still ten times higher in Europe than in India. The reserve of passenger traffic there is therefore unique in the world”, enthused the general manager. For Safran, the number one objective is to “ensure a good position in the civil aeronautics market”. An approach that echoes the Make in India policy chosen by the nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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