Boeing Eyes More Orders From India

Boeing’s new Indian unit will help the company win more business from local customers and mean more employment in the South Asian country, the head of the US defense firm’s Indian business said late Friday.

The new legal entity, announced this week, is the fourth separate country-specific business Boeing has established after setting up similar structures in Britain, Australia and Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported.

Boeing will hire more staff, most of them locals, but also bring in specialists from overseas as it looks to win new deals and grow the $500 million a year worth of products it currently sources from India, Boeing India President Pratyush Kumar told Reuters. He declined to say how many new jobs would be created.

“This is to really create the full ecosystem throughout the lifecycle for our customers in India,” he said ahead of an Indian airshow in Bengaluru next week.

Kumar said the new entity, which Boeing hopes will also grow its manufacturing presence in the country, was designed for its Indian clients rather than those overseas. “In order to support US exports, we need to better support our Indian customers,” he said.

Boeing, as well as rivals such as Europe’s Airbus and Lockheed Martin of the US, are looking to India, one of the world’s largest arms importers, as a future source of growth as western countries trim defense budgets.

India is expected to spend $250 billion over the next decade to modernize its armed forces, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also said new deals must involve a share of local production to help the country grow its nascent defense industry.