New Delhi: Rolls-Royce has announced ambitious plans to position India as its third ‘home market’ beyond the UK, alongside the US and Germany. This strategic move aims to harness opportunities in jet engines, naval propulsion, land systems, and advanced engineering.
Sashi Mukundan, Executive Vice President of Rolls-Royce India, shared these insights in an interview, emphasising a major investment to deepen the company’s footprint in the country.
The firm views India as possessing scale, policy clarity, and a rapidly expanding defence-industrial ecosystem. Mukundan highlighted the development of a next-generation aero engine as a top priority. This engine would power combat jets under India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program, aligning with New Delhi’s push for indigenous production.
Rolls-Royce plans to firm up two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Indian defence public sector undertakings. One focuses on manufacturing engines for Arjun tanks, while the other targets engines for future-ready combat vehicles. These pacts underscore the company’s commitment across land systems.
In October, Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi the critical role India will play in the company’s future. Mukundan elaborated that establishing India as a home market extends beyond defence to manufacturing, advanced engineering skills, and technology development. These areas align closely with India’s national priorities.
Discussions on AMCA engines are advancing, with Rolls-Royce positioning itself as the ideal partner. The company boasts extensive experience in India and globally, having built and certified engines every 18 months, including for combat and commercial applications. Mukundan stressed that all engine design work could occur in India, with technology transfer and joint ownership of new intellectual property (IP) rights.
Owning design IP grants strategic control, Mukundan noted, paving the way for manufacturing capabilities built systematically. Rolls-Royce’s global prowess includes powering the Eurofighter Typhoon with its EJ200 engine, delivering 90 kilonewtons of thrust. The company also leads the Global Combat Air Programme engine mandate, a sixth-generation initiative involving the UK, Japan, and Italy.
Additionally, Rolls-Royce collaborated with GE on the F136 engine for the F-35, a fifth-generation fighter, matching or exceeding the thrust needs for India’s projects. This track record bolsters its case for AMCA involvement.
Beyond aviation, Rolls-Royce eyes contributions to India’s naval propulsion needs, particularly electric and hybrid systems. These derive from marine gas turbines built on aero-engine cores, an area where Rolls-Royce excels in ‘marinisation’ at scale.
Mukundan explained that developing an aero-core in India would create an overlapping supply chain, justifying volumes for both air and naval applications.
Building a standalone marine propulsion chain from scratch proves unviable due to low naval quantities, he added. Leveraging aero derivatives enables efficiency, enhancing the Indian Navy’s combat prowess.
Mukundan refrained from specifying investment figures but promised a scale that would draw notice. The focus lies on impact: fostering an entire value chain and ecosystem across sectors. He praised India’s government for its visible emphasis on indigenous capabilities in naval, land, and air domains.
Over the long term, Mukundan views India as a major global power, increasingly aiding the Global South. For Rolls-Royce, India offers more than market access; all elements align perfectly. This makes the country not merely important, but a strategic long-term home.
