Rolls-Royce is accelerating its plans to develop India’s advanced aero-engine manufacturing industry, aiming to double its local sourcing and foster a sovereign aerospace ecosystem through new investments and strategic collaborations.
Rolls-Royce says India is steadily building the industrial depth needed to become a competitive centre for advanced aero-engine manufacturing, as it seeks to expand its supplier base and draw more local firms into global aerospace programmes. The assessment, reported by Business Line, comes as the British engineering group pushes to increase sourcing from India and deepen its long-term manufacturing footprint in the country.
Sashi Mukundan, executive vice-president for transformation at Rolls-Royce India, said Indian manufacturers are gaining capability in compressor and turbine parts, rotating components, complex machined structures and other specialised aerospace processes. According to the company, the aim is not simply to buy more from India but to help develop a stronger industrial base through technology partnerships, supplier development and knowledge transfer.
Rolls-Royce has already said it wants to double its sourcing from India to about $1 billion over the next five years, building on plans it outlined earlier this year to widen its presence across civil aviation, defence and energy. Business Standard reported in February that the group wants India to become a larger hub for high-tech manufacturing and has floated the idea of co-developing an aero-engine for India’s next-generation combat aircraft with full intellectual property transfer. The company has also said it wants to significantly expand its workforce in India and lift local sourcing sharply.
The latest push builds on decades of collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and other Indian firms. Rolls-Royce says its ambitions now go beyond component work to a broader sovereign aero-engine ecosystem, including a proposed Aero Gas Turbine Complex linked to India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft programme. The company already works with HAL, Bharat Forge, Tata, Godrej, Force Motors and Azad Engineering, and says the expansion should strengthen supply-chain resilience while helping India move closer to its goal of becoming a globally competitive aerospace manufacturing base.
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