New Delhi, Apr 25 (KNN) The surging global aviation recovery has accelerated Collins Aerospace's supply chain sourcing from India, according to Keshav Prasad, the company's director of India supply chain operations.

Prasad revealed that Collins expects its sourcing from Indian supplier partners to triple over the next three to four years, reported FE.

This rapid growth is driven by India's competitive manufacturing capabilities, robust aerospace ecosystem, and deep talent pool of engineers and technicians, he said.

“Supportive government policies promoting aerospace and defence manufacturing have significantly enabled our synergistic partnership with Indian industry,” Prasad stated.

To meet escalating demand, Collins is significantly augmenting its Indian operations and workforce. The aviation giant currently employs around 5,000 in the country, including 3,000 engineers, with plans to hire an additional 2,000 over the next decade.

Collins is investing USD 200 million to enhance research, development and production facilities in India. A significant portion is allocated to a new state-of-the-art manufacturing site near Bengaluru's airport. This facility will be Collins' first vertically-integrated Indian operation spanning all six of its business portfolios.

A new cutting-edge test facility being built in Bengaluru will allow qualification and certification of locally-produced components like avionics and evacuation slides. This streamlines operations by obviating the need to ship products abroad for testing.

“We now deliver full-cycle, sign-to-production engineering services in Bengaluru across software, mechanical, electronics and systems disciplines,” highlighted Prasad. This vertically-integrated approach marks an evolution from Collins' original India footprint providing only engineering services from 2007.

As the global aviation sector soars, Collins Aerospace is doubling down on India as a strategic sourcing and manufacturing hub to meet the escalating demand through an accelerated ramp-up of local capabilities and investments.

(KNN Bureau)