The Hindu : Business : Boeing, Tata to form venture

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Friday, Feb 15, 2008
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Business

Boeing, Tata to form venture

Special Correspondent

To make defence aerospace components for export to Boeing

Venture will be established in June
Tata’s capability
to be utilised

— PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM

DEFENCE TIES: President, Boeing India, Ian Thomas (right), with Director, International Communication, Integrated Defence Systems, Boeing, Brian J. Nelson, at a press conference in connection with the forthcoming Def Expo ‘08 in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: Boeing and Tata Industries Limited have agreed on a plan to form a joint-venture company that will initially include more than $500 million of defence-related aerospace component work in India for export to Boeing and its international customers.

Under the memorandum of agreement signed by Boeing and Tata, it is contemplated that the joint-venture company will be established by June, and shortly thereafter will begin work building Boeing aerospace components, said Boeing officials.

Both companies intend utilising existing the Tata manufacturing capability and also develop new supply sources throughout the Indian manufacturing and engineering communities for commercial and defence applications.

Manufacturing capabilities established within the joint-venture company would in later phases be leveraged across multiple Boeing programmes, including the $10 billion medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) tender. In the first phase of the agreement, Boeing would potentially issue contracts for work packages to the joint-venture company involving defence-related component manufacturing on Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet for the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force, CH-47 Chinook and/or P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft. A research and development centre for advanced manufacturing technologies is also contemplated. All these products are in varying stages of contention for orders from the Ministry of Defence.

Boeing has been present in India for over 60 years but it was only in 2003 that it established a wholly owned subsidiary. Since then it has established several partnerships with the Indian industry and academic institutions.

U.S. firm’s MRO facility

PTI reports:

On the proposed MRO to be set up at Nagpur as a part of the offset for Air India acquiring 68 Boeing planes, U.S. firm’s President (India) Ian Thomas told reporters here that “we have certainly decided to make the MRO operational by 2009.”

The U.S. firm has committed to invest $100 million in the MRO project, besides investing additionally in a pilot training establishment for Air India as well as another for a school for ab-initio training for pilots.

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