Airbus to invest $1 billion in India in 10 years

Mumbai: Pan-European aircraft manufacturer Airbus SAS plans to invest about one billion dollars in India in the next 10 years. Airbus said it is looking to set up training centres maintenance, repair and overhauling (MRO) facility; engineering centre and design center in India.

The Toulouse-based aircraft maker, now a fully-owned subsidiary of Europe's major defence contractor EADS following the exit of BAE Systems as a joint stockholder, is bullish on the growth opportunities in the Indian civil aviation space.

Considering the growth that the civil aviation sector is poised to witness in India and the requirements to meet the demands we are committing about one billion dollars here for the next 10 years," Airbus executive vice-president, marketing and contracts consumer affairs, Kiran Rao, said. He said the company was in talks with various partners, including Indian firms, for setting up the maintenance, repair and overhaul facility. "The facility is planned for the Asia region and we hope to finalise it soon," he added.

Airbus, Rao said, has also planned to set up an engineering centre in Bangalore, which would be operational by next year. "We plan to have a training centre for A-320 Airbus by 2007 starting with about four simulators, which can be then expanded up to eight simulators over the next five years at an investment of about $300 million," he said.

The Indian facilities would cater to the requirements of the Asia region for Airbus, he added.

Airbus employs around 57,000 people at sixteen sites in four European countries:Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. Final assembly production occurs at Toulouse (France) and Hamburg (Germany). Airbus also has three subsidiaries in the US, Japan and China.