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‘ India can become a significant partner as part of a larger global supply chain and help
us reduce costs'
The Boeing Company’s India subsidiary, Boeing International Corp. India, has just
moved into a new office in the upmarket Eros Building in New Delhi’s Nehru Place
neighbourhood. The move resonates well with the $61.5-billion US-based aviation
giant’s plans for India. After a hugely successful two years of selling commercial
airplanes — Indian companies have ordered 132 Boeing aeroplanes in the past 20
months — and after committing close to $185 million in smaller projects such as a
maintenance, repair and overhaul facility (MRO) in Nagpur, Boeing has decided to shift
gears in the country. In January, the company sent Ian Q.R. Thomas, vice-president
(Europe) of its Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), to head India operations as president,
Boeing India. Thomas, 40, has a brief to strengthen the company’s local presence and
find new ways to pursue growth. An impending visit in April by chairman and CEO Jim
McNerney is in line with the company’s new strategy. Thomas spoke to BW’s Anjuli
Bhargava to explain Boeing’s new philosophy and what sets India apart in the region.
Excerpts:
It would be fair to say that India joined the jet age on Boeing wings. We
have been doing business here for the past 60 years, predominantly in
commercial airplanes. On the back of the recent strategic alignment
and the growing partnership between India and the US, both politically
and strategically, the civil nuclear agreement and a host of accords
under the leadership of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US
President George Bush, we believe there is (now) a very significant
opening in the defence market. But we believe the market in India is a
lot more than just selling commercial aeroplanes or defence products. I
am here to lead a cross-enterprise team that goes beyond these two
areas. We would like to partner Indian business in a host of things such
as IT, BPO, engineering, manufacturing and raw materials sourcing that
Boeing Company can bring to bear as an enterprise.
We will keep a pretty lean executive structure here. But on the MRO
and the training side, the base could grow from several hundred to
several thousand. The defence side will be determined by our success.
So, in the Asia-Pacific, is India the first country where you are
setting up operations with this cross-enterprise approach in
mind?