Rolls-Royce is planning to scale up its business in India to support future programmes and partnerships across defence, civil aviation and energy, said the British company on Thursday. It 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, Navy and Coast Guard, and potentially power solutions for critical infrastructure and industry.
This announcement by Rolls-Royce came after Chief Executive Officer Tufan Erginbilgic met the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday.
According to the company, these initiatives could more than double its workforce to approximately 10,000 people in India and lead to a tenfold increase in supply chain sourcing from here.
“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 Tufan Erginbilgic. He added, “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.”
The company said that today’s announcement builds on a pivotal year for India–UK strategic cooperation and the India-UK Vision 2035 roadmap for deeper bilateral industrial and defence collaboration.
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 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, it added.
Currently, more than 1,400 Rolls-Royce engines are powering various defence platforms such as the Jaguar combat aircraft and Hawk trainers of the Indian Air Force and Navy; the Arjun Main Battle Tanks of the Army, and a variety of vessels and submarines of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard including the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Watercrafts and the P17 Alpha frigates.
Today, more than 4,000 people work across the Rolls-Royce ecosystem in India, including 2,800 engineers who contribute to global programmes across its businesses. The company has a manufacturing joint venture with HAL and Force Motors as well as sourcing partnerships with over 100 vendors including Tata, Bharat Forge, Godrej, Azad Engineering and many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).