NEW DELHI: Aircraft engine major GE Aerospace is betting big on India by increasing its exports from the country “20 times” in just five years from pre-Covid 2018 to 2022.
It is developing the next gen “open fan architecture” engines that promise to make flying 20% more fuel efficient by middle of next decade at its John F Welch Technology Centre (JFWTC) in Bengaluru.Having over 1,300 engines in India with 2,000 more (along with CFM, its JV with French major Safran) on order that will be delivered over next nine years, the company is open to having an engine MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) facility here at the right time.
“India is not just a big market with a huge potential for us to grow, it also has the right talent that makes it an integral part of our supply chain. Exports from our 13 Indian suppliers, including Tata Advanced Systems (TASL), have grown 20 times from 2018 to 2022. These parts go into making of our engines. We have been present in India’s aerospace ecosystem for 40 years now and are growing very rapidly,” GE Aerospace CEO (south Asia) Vikram Rai told TOI. He, however, did not disclose value of exports from India.
GE Aerospace had signed a multi-year contract with TASL in Nov 2022. Under this the Tata company will produ ce commercial aircraft engine components worth $1 billion and supply them to GE’s global engine manufacturing factories. “As of now we have over 1,310 engines in India on the Boeing 787 Dreamliners, B777s and Airbus A320neo family planes with airlines like Air India, IndiGo and Vistara. Indian carriers currently have 1,100-1,200 planes on order. GE Aerospace and CFM will be delivering 2,000 engines over next eight-nine years at the rate of one aircraft with our engines per week in that timeframe,” Rai said.
When the company has a threshold of engine numbers in India, it will have a viable case for establishing a MRO facility in the country. “We continue to evaluate an engine MRO here,” he said.
“A lot of the research on this CFM Rise programme is happening at our Bengaluru facility. These engines being developed initially for narrow body planes are expected to become a reality by the middle of next decade,” Rai added.
