'Committed to making India regional MRO hub'

Global aviation and defence major Boeing has had an engineering presence in India since 2009. In the past 15 years, it has secured orders for major military platforms and aligned itself with the "Make in India" initiative. Against this backdrop, Boeing Defence India Managing Director NIKHIL JOSHI, in an email interview with Bhaswar Kumar, speaks of the growth witnessed by the sourcing ecosystem in India and local research and development (R&D) goals.

How large is your Indian supplier base?

Boeing's commitment to fostering and empowering the supplier network in the Indian aerospace and defence sector is fundamental to our supplychain strategy in India. Our annual sourcing from India has risen over a decade from $250 million to $1.25 billion annually. Of that, close to 70 per cent is contributed by manufacturing.

At the same time, our supplier network has expanded two times to over 300 today-making us the largest foreign original equipment manufacturer (OEM) exporter from India. Notably, over a quarter of these partners are micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which are integral to our global supply chain. This growth has been propelled by significant advancements in quality and capability along the value curve, transitioning from simple assemblies to more complex ones, including new technologies like full-size determinant assembly (FSDA), which further employs advanced manufacturing technologies such as robotics, and advanced materials like composites and thermoplastics. We have launched multiple qualifications and development programmes with Indian suppliers cutting across aerospacegrade raw materials, standards, interiors, and structures.

What are your goals for local R&D?