Our strategy is to manufacture in India: Hakan Buskhe

Interview with CEO, Saab

Swedish defence and security company Saab has been present in India since the 1960s. It is looking to sell Gripen fighter jets here. Chief Executive Officer Hakan Buskhe, in an interview with Aneesh Phadnis, says the company is betting highly on India and plans to make this a design and manufacturing hub.

How important is India for Saab and how much does it contribute to your revenue?

For us, the Indian market is growing in importance. About seven to eight per cent of our sales come from here and is growing. It was about two per cent five years ago.  Our strategy is to manufacture in India.

We began producing camouflaged nets here for military vehicles in 1975  and have a research and development centre in Hyderabad to design parts for missile systems and submarines. We have a joint venture (JV) with Aequs in Karnataka to manufacture aeronautical components for Boeing and Airbus, and are forming a JV with Bharat Forge for air defence solutions.

Saab has target to grow sales by 5 %. How much of it will come from India? How much additional investment will you make in India?

We aim to make India as our biggest production site and market in ten years. We want to make India design and manufacturing hub. Today, we have 450 employees in India and in next few years we will increase the staff and investments in India many times. In Sweden, we have 12,500 employees and if we have to make India our manufacturing hub we will have to increase number of employees to that level.

Saab lost to Rafale in the multi-role combat aircraft tender but has offered to build Gripen combat planes. What has been the outcome of discussions?

I am very satisfied with my discussions with the Indian government but cannot comment on that. We can offer technology and build capacity to manufacture the planes in India but it is up to Indian government to decide on it.