Aero India 2023 | Engines of Growth

Atul Chandra

India is now in the midst of a major procurement cycle across commercial and military aviation resulting in large orders for aero engines. The recent orders by Air India and current and upcoming orders for fighter and helicopter engines are a bonanza for foreign OEMs. Air India’s aircraft orders are worth approximately USD 70 billion (at list prices) but how much of this value will translate back into the Indian aerospace ecosystem is a matter of conjecture.

The Rafale fighter jet

Indian military aviation orders will also run into thousands of engines in the next two decades and presents an unmatched opportunity to gain deeper access into engine MRO. Typically, OEMs are amenable for Transfer of Technology (ToT) or Maintenance ToT (MToT) contracts during negotiations for the original contracts themselves and are unlikely to extend significant concessions once the deals are inked. This is all the more the case for engine MRO, which requires heavy investments and sustained work to keep engine shops operational and profitable.

New Direction

It is in the realm of fighter engines that a major change is under way with the Indian armed forces moving away from decades of investment in licence production and overhaul of Russian aero engines for its fighter aircraft, transport aircraft and helicopters. While Russia was considered as a trusted supplier, the greatest surprise it is the emergence of the US as the principal supplier of aero engines for India’s indigenous fighter programmes.

While the US is often criticised in many Indian quarters as being trigger happy when it comes to sanctions, the Indian defence establishment appears to believe that US engine supplies for domestic fighter programmes would be immune to any future threat of sanctions. The fact of the matter also is that despite decades of investment in the Kaveri engine programme, its failure has ensured that the current and next-generation of in