Airbus CEO Bernhard Gerwert has 'Make in India' in his sight

Bernhard Gerwert, chief executive officer of Airbus Defence and Space, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to apprise him of the company's plans for the 'Make in India' initiative.

Gerwert told the PM that Airbus is keenly interested in becoming a partner in 'Make in India' through a cluster approach with regional partners, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office.

Modi welcomed the interest shown by Airbus in India, it added. Airbus Defence and Space is the division of the Airbus Group that handles defence and aerospace products and services. During the meeting, Modi discussed with Gerwert various projects in India in the aerospace, defence and civil aviation sectors.

Gerwert recalled the PM's visit to the Airbus manufacturing facility in Toulouse in France in April and said that it had generated a "positive atmosphere and interest". During that visit, Airbus had announced that it would increase its Indian outsourcing to $2 billion. In India, the Airbus Group already operates two separate engineering centres for civil aviation and defence apart from a research and technology centre which together employ more than 400 engineers and high-skilled staff.

As part of its new strategy, the Airbus Group had earlier this month brought all its Indian operations under one entity Airbus Group India Private Limited. India is the first international market where local operations are being brought under a single company as part of the Group's one roof policy, the Airbus Group had said.

Pierre de Bausset, a veteran at the company and its former corporate secretary, has been appointed as the head of the new entity. The 60.7-billion euros Group comprises Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters. The new organisational structure with Bausset in charge is aimed at ensuring more internal coordination, pooling of resources and a more efficient engagement with local stakeholders.

Bausset had said that the company aims "to firmly embed Indian industry, public and private, in our global value chain and achieve $2 billion in cumulative sourcing from India by 2020. "There is plenty of potential to make India a hub for engineering and innovation for the Group," he had added.