Mahindra, Airbus announce strategic “Make in India” relationship

By Niraj M Wanikar, Chief Editor, CNCTimes.com, 2015-06-16 17:31:22

Mahindra Group subsidiary, Mahindra Aerospace has been awarded a large aero components production contract by Airbus Group company, Premium AEROTEC of Germany. The multi-year contract envisages the manufacture and supply by Mahindra of a variety of metallic components that will be fitted into several Airbus aircraft programmes as part of assemblies produced by Premium AEROTEC.

Mahindra Aerospace’s deliverables under this contract will be in excess of a million parts per annum. The parts will be produced at the new Mahindra Aerostructures facility located at Narsapura, near Bengaluru.

Deliveries to Premium AEROTEC’s facilities in Germany are scheduled to commence this year. Announcing the contract award during the 2015 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, senior representatives of the Airbus and Mahindra groups mentioned that this contract is aligned with the Indian Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and validates the two groups’ commitment to accelerate India’s participation in the global aerospace industry while simultaneously creating high-growth opportunities within India’s burgeoning aerospace and defence eco-system.

Speaking about this milestone in the context of the Mahindra Group’s strategic aspirations for Aerospace and Defence, Mr Anand Mahindra, Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. stated, “When we began our aerospace journey in 2008, India had yet to establish a presence in the global aerospace supply chain. We committed then to bridge that gap with our investments in aerospace manufacturing, and this new chapter in our relationship with Airbus attests to that commitment. This is our vision to take ‘Make in India’ from policy to reality: Build bridges across cultures, countries and businesses –enable each to focus on its core–and empower each other to Rise.”

Airbus and Mahindra are already global partners in the aerospace engineering domain with Tech Mahindra being one of the global E2S engineering services providers to the Airbus Group. “This announcement marks a new milestone in our journey,” said Dr Klaus Richter, Chief Procurement Officer, Airbus Group & Airbus.

Dr. Richter, who is also a member of the Airbus Group Executive Committee and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Premium AEROTEC, added, “By expanding our relationship from engineering to manufacturing, both of us are signalling our willingness to further strengthen our joint business relationship”, Mr. S P Shukla, Group President & CEO, Mahindra Aerospace and Defence Sector and Member, Group Executive Board, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, said.

“Premium Aerotec and Mahindra Aerospace have started a journey to build capability and capacity in India to support the global market demand for Airbus aircraft. We are thrilled to be part of this relationship and are committed to growing it significantly in the years to

Come.”

The Mahindra Group recently created the Aerospace and Defence sector under Mr Shukla’s leadership to ensure strategic focus and targeted imperatives to support India’s recent policy initiatives in both these industry domains.

Dr. Lars Kästle, Senior Vice President Finance, Procurement & IT Management, Premium AEROTEC, said, “For Premium AEROTEC, this is the start of a strategic partnership with Mahindra Aerospace. It represents an important step in our restructuring efforts to re-arrange our supply chain in collaboration with global partners.”

“We greatly appreciate this opportunity to work with Premium AEROTEC as they implement their strategic sourcing plans, and look forward to building up a vibrant partnership with Premium and the Airbus Group from this foundation,” said Mr Arvind Mehra, Executive

Director and Global CEO, Mahindra Aerospace.

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