The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Boeing, James McNerney, on Monday is said to have expressed his company's willingness to accelerate engagement with India during his one -on -one meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
In a tweet, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, "Boeing wants to accelerate engagement with India."
Akbaruddin's tweet came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Mr. McNerney here on Monday.
Prime Minister is reportedly said to have discussed possibilities of greater inflow of investment into India from Boeing which already enjoys a strong presence in the Indian market.
The close relationship between Boeing and India goes back approximately 70 years, when Tata Airlines flew DC-3s. India entered the jet age on the wings of Boeing commercial jetliners. Boeing jets continue to be the mainstay of the country's domestic and intercontinental commercial fleets.
New opportunities for partnership have emerged in the area of defense, Indian industry and technology. In January 2009, the government of India selected the P-8I to fulfill its long-range maritime reconnaissance and antisubmarine requirements. In March 2009, Boeing opened the Boeing Research and Technology center in Bangalore to advance aerospace innovation. Recently, in June 2011, India's Ministry of Defence signed an agreement with the U.S. government to acquire 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifters.
In addition, Boeing is focused on creating sustainable value in the Indian aerospace sector. The company has developed important relationships with suppliers in India and is actively pursuing technical and business partnerships with Indian companies and institutions. Boeing is uniquely positioned for growth in the burgeoning aircraft services and support market.
Boeing established a wholly owned Indian subsidiary, Boeing International Corporation India Private Limited (BICIPL), in 2003 to support the growing demands of India's aerospace industry. Boeing also has an office in Bangalore and Field Service offices in Mumbai and New Delhi. In 2008, Boeing subsidiary Aviall established its presence in India and has opened India's first aircraft parts distribution center in Noida near New Delhi. Another Boeing subsidiary, Jeppesen, a provider of flight navigation solutions, has established its presence in Hyderabad. Two other Boeing subsidiaries, Narus and CDG, are expanding in the country.
On Thursday, Boeing announced an agreement to acquire Narus Networks Private Limited, a leading provider of real-time network traffic and analytics software used to protect against cyber attacks and persistent threats aimed at large Internet Protocol networks.
The acquisition follows a successful partnership between the two companies and advances Boeing's strategy to offer world-class, scalable, state-of-the-art cyber security solutions, a Boeing statement said.
Narus is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has a strong presence in Bangalore.
Besides his meeting with CEO of Boeing, Prime Minister will hold a series of meeting with CEOs of five other companies namely Laurence D. Fink, CEO of American multinational investment management firm Black Rock; Virginia Rometty CEO of IBM; Jeffrey R. Immelt, CEO of General Electric; Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, and Henry Kravis, CEO of American private equity fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co (KKR).
Earlier in the morning, Prime Minister held a breakfast meeting with CEOs of 11 top US companies, during which he is believed to have pushed India's case as the best investment destination in Asia.
Among the eleven CEOs whom the Prime Minister had met were Google's Larry Page; David M Rubenstein of The Carlyle Group; Michael L Corbat, CEO of Citigroup; Doug Oberhelman of Caterpillar; Cargill President and CEO David W MacLennan; Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo; Kenneth C Frazier of Merck; MasterCard President and CEO Ajaypal Singh Banga, AES Corporation CEO Andres Gluski, Charles R. Kaye of Warburg Pincus and Micheal Ball of Hospira - a US-based global pharmaceutical company.
These meetings with the 17 CEOs are expected to last about two hours.
These meetings are a part of Prime Minister Modi's plans to increase the share of India's manufacturing sector to 25 per cent of the GDP from 15 per cent currently. He is expected to assure the CEOs of a red carpet welcome minus the red tape.
Later in the day, he will meet the Clintons, former president Bill Clinton and his wife and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Following which he departs for Washington in the afternoon to meet U.S. President Barrack Obama.
