New Delhi: In what is indicative of growing relevance of Indian technological expertise, US-based aerospace engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney is exploring opportunities to source components for its global operations from India.
Palash Roy Chowdhury, country manager (India), Pratt & Whitney, said, “We are in talks with several suppliers to source parts for aircraft engines from India for our global operations. Aerospace technology in India has mostly been isolated in public sector undertakings but with the offset rule coming into place a lot of private sector entities are investing in bandwidth in terms of developing talent as well as technological resources.”
The offset rule stipulates that in any defence contract valued at over Rs 300 crore with a foreign company, 30% of the contract value has to be ploughed back into India.
Most of it is accounted for as direct offsets like sourcing of equipment, software etc for the contract. Lately, all major corporate houses including Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra have started investing in developing capability in defence technology.
21/05/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard
