Airbus eyes cumulative procurement $2 billion from India in 5 yrs

The OEM's annual procurement from India crossed $500 million in 2015

Aerospace industry major Airbus Group is looking at a cumulative procurement of over $2 billion, covering both civil and defence, from India in five years up to 2020. The company announced that in a first for any foreign aerospace and defence orginal equipment manufacturer (OEM) in India, the Group has exceeded $500 million annual procurement from India in 2015.

The Group would help in setting up system integration and final assembly lines, if its proposals to produce the C295W military transporter in India together with the Tata group and military helicopters along with Mahindra & Mahindra materialise, said the company officials.

The company, in an announcement, said that every Airbus commercial aircraft being produced is partly made in India and the Group's sprocurement from India has grown 16 times in the last decade. Last year, the procurement has posted a growth of 15 per cent over 2014.

Over 6,000 people at more than 45 suppliers, both public and private, are directly engaged in providing Engineering & IT Services, Aero-structures, Detail parts & Systems, Materials and Cabins to the Group for several of its leading platforms including A380, A350 XWB, A320 Family, A330, C295W, A400M, Eurofighter, Tiger and NH90, said the Group

"Indian suppliers are a cornerstone of our globalisation strategy," said Klaus Richter, chief procurement officer, Airbus Group and Airbus. "Many of the projects with our Indian partners have been very successful and we aim to further strengthen these relationships in the future."

"We are already making in India via our suppliers and this is independent of any offset obligations," says Pierre de Bausset, president & MD, Airbus Group India.

"If our proposals to produce the C295W military transporter in India together with Tata and military helicopters along with Mahindra materialise, we will help set-up system integration and final assembly lines which will spawn an Indian defence supplier base that will be second to none globally," he added.

The suppliers for the company from India includes Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Mahindra Aerospace, Tech Mahindra, Tata Group companies, Infosys and Wipro.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) makes half of the entire A320 Family forward passenger doors produced worldwide and Dynamatic Technologies makes flap track beams for the A320 Family on a global single source basis and was given the contract last year to manufacture them for the A330 Family. Flap track beams are the assemblies on which the wings extend and retract every time the aircraft takes-off and lands.

Mahindra Aerospace is on contract from Premium Aerotec, an Airbus Group company, to supply more than a million aero-components per year. Aequs has recently inaugurated a dedicated machining facility in Belagavi, the largest of its kind in India, adding to a pre-existing sheet metal, assembly and forging facility and special process operations for Airbus commercial aircraft programmes.

UTC Aerospace Systems makes evacuation slides, interior and exterior lighting, power drive units, auxiliary motors and passenger supply cabin modules for all Airbus commercial aircraft while Axis Cades and Quest provide engineering services for the fuselage and wing & pylon sections respectively, through dedicated design centres, each employing over 200 engineers.

Tata Advanced Materials Ltd (TAML) is offering composite parts for the wing for the A350 XWB and A320 programmes while another Tata Group company, TAL Manufacturing solutions, has partnered with RUAG Aero-structures to supply over 500 sheet metal and machined parts and sub-assemblies for the A320 programme. In addition, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) will supply refuelling pods for the A330 MRTT to Airbus Defence and Space via Cobham.

Infosys provides SAP development and maintenance services while Geometric supports on product lifecycle management (PLM) applications and CAD services. Tech Mahindra provides consulting services on Quality and Business Support.

Wipro has received technology transfer from an Airbus Defence and Space JV company in Spain to manufacture more than 8000 aerospace actuators per year, which go on platforms such as A400M, CN235 and C295W while SEFEE India designs, develops, manufactures and tests complete electrical harness systems for aircraft like A400M and several helicopter types.