The US based GE Aerospace’s Indian aero-engine supply chain has expanded with 13 companies and its Pune multi-modal manufacturing facility. This announcement was made ahead of the DefExpo 2022 which is starting in Gandhinagar from October 18.
The expo this year is expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (October 19, 2022).
Several Indian companies including Godrej, Tata Advanced Systems, Mahindra Aerostructure have set up GE aero-engine component production lines. And the components for the company’s engine manufacturing facilities are exported from India. Also, Hindustan Aeronautics has already set up an assembly line for GE’s LM2500 marine engine and this is powering India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier – INS Vikrant which was recently commissioned in the Indian Navy.
The company has been present in India since 1902 and today, almost 19,000 of its employees based in India are already working R&D, product design, project execution, services and manufacturing. The company also has 14 own or joint venture manufacturing units here in the country.
With these growing capabilities there has been a significant increase in GE Aerospace’s local sourcing spend, which in the last five years has grown almost 20 times. To help India achieve its self-reliance goals, GE Aerospace and its Indian partners are in the process of establishing the aero-engine manufacturing infrastructure.
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Highlighting Indian companies’ willingness to partner with GE Aerospace and also to join the aero-engine marketplace, Youngje Kim, Vice President, Sales for Asia at GE’s military aviation division says that the Indian companies have shown their ability to master complex process and manufacturing in aero-engine manufacturing.
Skill Development
In an effort to support the growing aero-engine manufacturing base in India, GE Aerospace is pursuing an aggressive skill development programme workforce in the manufacturing sector.
According to a company statement, over the past two years, under this programme more than 150 manufacturing staff have been trained at the various partner organizations. And these trained workers have managed to get employed with one of several suppliers of the company in India.
According to Kim, “GE’s Indian skill development programme when combined with our growing Indian industrial base is a testament to our support of Make in India,” added Kim.
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Around 1000 of aviation researchers and engineers of GE work in India and they have deep connections with major academic institutions in the country.
The company’s supply chain has Indian partners including: IndoMIM Tec, Maini Precision Products, Recaero, Tata Advanced Systems, Tata Advanced Materials, HAL Foundry & Forge, Mahindra Aerostructures, Godrej & Boyce, HAL Foundry & Forge, Tata Sikorsky Aerospace, Azad Engineering Raghu Vamsi, Ankit Aerospace and Sundaram Fasteners.
