India should take decisive steps to develop its own passenger aircraft programme, said Dr. Srinivasan Dwarakanath, Director General Aerospace India Association, at the International Conference on the Future of Aviation and Aerospace hosted by IIM Bangalore on Saturday.
India currently exports over $2 billion worth of aircraft micro-assemblies annually; the value addition in these exports remains under 30 per cent. “This must move to over 60 per cent,” said Dr. Dwarakanath. “We need to start indigenising raw materials and building a robust ecosystem for aerospace design and manufacturing, with maximum value addition coming from Indian players.” He added that India has demonstrated strong capabilities in complex aerospace projects such as Chandrayaan and the development of military jets. “Now it’s time to manufacture indigenous passenger aircraft, not necessarily on our own, but in partnership with global OEMs,” he noted.
Immense potential as global players struggle to ramp up
Speaking to businessline, Dr. Dwarakanath explained that while the global OEMs like Airbus and Boeing are struggling to ramp up production due to supply chain constraints and workforce shortages in the West, India has the potential to become the global manufacturing hub in aerospace.
“The Covid-19 pandemic forced many aerospace companies to lay off skilled workers, and rehiring or upskilling has been slow, particularly in Europe and the US. Quality has suffered because of the supply chain disruption. A lot of rework is happening, and global OEMs are now looking at countries like India, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea to scale up,” he explained. “But among all of these, the talent pool in India is the largest. That gives us a unique advantage.”
However, he emphasised the need for a clear policy roadmap to fully capitalise on this opportunity. “We must make our MSMEs visible and integrate them into the global supply chain,” he added.
Published on April 20, 2025