Taking a step closer to its participation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship "Make in India" programme, European aviation major Airbus has brought in a dedicated executive, Ashish Saraf, to drive the initiatives.
Airbus Group has appointed Ashish Saraf as Vice President for industry development, strategic partnerships and offsets and he ill drive the Airbus Group's existing 'Make in India' initiatives and conceive new ones for all the businesses of the India with the aim to increase their industrial footprint here, a release said today.
Airbus had in June, during Prime Minister's Modi's tour to France, when he visited Airbus headquarters in Toulouse as well, announced that it would increase its cumulative sourcing from India to USD 2 billion by 2020.
"Ashish is a dynamic Indian executive with experience in leading industrialisation initiatives in the aerospace and defence sector. Having him as a part of our India management team with the mandate to expand our local industrial partnerships is a shot in the arm for our 'Make in India' plans," Airbus Group India President Pierre de Bausset said.
Airbus Group's ambition is to be a benchmark setting company when it comes to realizing the 'Make in India' vision of the Indian government, he said.
Significantly, the European aviation major had in Mid-last year announced uniting its all business verticals in India under single entity, Airbus Group India Private Limited, saying that the move would allow it, among other things, to "greatly support" the 'Make in India' initiative.
Commenting on his mandate, Saraf said, "I look forward to supporting the Group fulfil its ambition while helping my country meet its indigenization goals. I feel privileged to be in this role at a company which has put 'Make in India' front and centre of its India strategy."
Prior to joining Airbus Group, Saraf was the India head of the Tata Sikorsky joint venture since 2010 and led Sikorsky's industrialisation and strategic partnerships in India.
Airbus Group has been actively collaborating with India, including embedding local players in its global value chain and tying up with Indian partners to target several ongoing defence acquisition programmes.
The Group has submitted a bid with Tata to jointly manufacture the C295 aircraft in India as a replacement for the Indian Air Force's ageing Avro aircraft and has tied-up with Mahindra Defence to jointly produce helicopters in India.
