Safran expands presence and industrial footprint in India

Safran has operated in India for 65 years and now counts 10 facilities and 750 employees in the country. These announcements, which represent more than $200 million of investment between 2018 and 2025, clearly reflect the Group’s commitment to long-term development in the country.

“With these new sites, we’re opening a new chapter in Safran’s long history with the Indian aerospace and defence industries, and we are reaffirming our commitment to the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy and sovereignty strategy,” said Olivier Andriès, chief executive officer of Safran.

“To support the country’s dynamic aviation market, with passenger traffic set to more than double in the next twenty years, we are accelerating our investments and industrial development in India. Through the creation of our largest maintenance and repair centre for commercial engines we are also paving the way to expand our MRO activities in India to military engines.  With our three new production facilities and our major in-house IT centre we will triple the number of employees in India over the next four years, building on the excellent local talent base.” 

Two new neighbouring plants are being inaugurated on July 7 in Hyderabad, for Safran Aircraft Engines and Safran Electrical & Power.

Jean-Paul Alary, chief executive officer of Safran Aircraft Engines, announced the creation of a new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for CFM LEAP engines, to be built at the industrial Park of GMR. The largest MRO center in the network, it will start operations in 2025 and will eventually offer annual capacity of 250 to 300 engine shop visits. The LEAP and its predecessor, the CFM56, now power over 330 Airbus A320/A320neo and Boeing 737/737 MAX airplanes deployed by airlines in the Indian sub-continent.  More than 1,500 LEAP engines are currently on order in the region.

“Our new MRO 4.0 centre in Hyderabad will strengthen our global network and enable us to meet the needs of our CFM customers against a backdrop of booming air traffic in India and the region,” said Alary. “We benefit from the fast growing aviation ecosystem and oustanding competences in the State of Telengana.”