"We got to walk before we run. I think the first step is to see how you can build manufacturing capabilities here in India," Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls-Royce India said when asked if the firm would start manufacturing engines in India in the near future.
The company, which has been operating in India for more than 80 years, powers a large number of aircraft, helicopters and fast-patrol vessels that Indian military uses through its engines.
It feels that long-term partnerships with state-run HAL and others would help it consolidate its position.
Underling that in 2010, the company started manufacturing components for the civil aerospace engines from India for the globe, Jayaraman told PTI, "We have been participating in the engineering services sector. We have been in sales, partnerships, joint ventures".
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He said the company will continue to partnership and probably leverage the benefits of the system not just of selling into India "but working with India, making sure the resources that are available are tapped not only for India but for the globe".
He said the company's engineers are doing all kinds of work for the global aerospace platform here in India.
"As you prove to yourself it is possible, you build on that and you get to the next level of evolution and all of a sudden there would be a tipping point that will happen where there is a market, an ecosystem that is available to serve that market and then why not just build an engine," he said.
Terming the 'Make in India' campaign as a 'vision', he said one has to figure out how everyone participates.
"Rolls-Royce already makes in India for the globe. So we will participate in a way where we continue to that that even more and we continue to see how we can create, co-develop, partner and collaborate with Indian firms, large and small," he said.