French giant Safran to set up ₹323 crore aircraft unit in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: French defence and aerospace giant Safran has decided to set up a facility to manufacture parts of LEAP turbofan engine of aircraft at Hyderabad, next to its electrical wiring facility in the special economic zone of GMR at Hyderabad international airport.

The new manufacturing facility, its first in India for LEAP turbofan engines, will involve an investment of around €40 million (approximately ₹323.3 crore) with a capacity of around 20,000 units a year, said its global chief executive Philippe Petitcolin.

Addressing the media in Hyderabad on Tuesday, Philippe said the new facility, aimed at helping the French defence and aerospace giant in its transition from CFM engines to LEAP turbofan engines, will commence operations by early 2020. Safran currently has an electrical wirings facility at Hyderabad set up at an investment of around €10 million, apart from a training services unit for CFM engines.

The proposed engine parts facility at Hyderabad is primarily aimed at promoting competition among global suppliers of Safran, given the high commitment to execute orders on hand of around 15,000 engines to be delivered over the next 7-8 years, said Philippe. Safran is looking at achieving a capacity of at least 2,000 LEAP engines a year, he said.

Terming LEAP as the fastest-selling engine in the history of aviation, he said the new-generation LEAP entered service in 2016 and has now passed the mark of 3 million flight hours. It already powers more than 700 Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX commercial airliners, including 54 operated by Indian airlines.

Safran will look at setting up more manufacturing facilities in India for components of LEAP turbofan engines after assessing the progress of the proposed facility at Hyderabad, said Philippe.