France's Airbus Group on Saturday pitched for a greater and stronger industrial bond with India, and said it supported visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" call.
In a press release issued here, Tom Enders, the Group CEO of Airbus, who received Prime Minister Modi and his delegation at the Airbus assembly line facility here along with the group's executive committee, said, "We are honoured to host Prime Minister Modi in Toulouse and convey to him our desire for a stronger industrial bond with India."
India already has a center-stage role in our international activities, and, we want to even increase it contribution through our products. We support Prime Minister's 'Make in India' call, and are ready to manufacture in India and the world," Enders added.
In India, the Airbus Group operates two engineering centers - one focused on civil, and the other on defence. The group also operates a research and technology center which has highly qualified people.
Enders and other senior Airbus representatives, including CEO Fabrice Bregier, Bernhard Gerwert, CEO Airbus Defence and Space, and Airbus Helicopters CEO Guillaume Faury told Prime Minister Modi that they were very keen to expand the comprehensive design responsibilities for future Airbus Group programs in India.
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Currently, four daily A380 Airbus flights serve India, and the potential for the A380 to help Indian carriers is said to be enormous.
During his stay at the facility, Prime Minister Modi also attended a presentation of Airbus' suppliers and interacted with representatives of some of the key local Airbus partners.
Currently, around 40 companies support more than 5000 jobs locally and turnover is an estimated 400 million dollars.
The Airbus Group has said that it is willing to set up final assembly lines and establish infrastructure for military transport aircraft and helicopters.
The Airbus Group is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services.
