Rolls-Royce eyes India as next home market, plans big investment in defence engines

British aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce on Sunday said it is considering making India its third “home market” outside the UK, as it looks to unlock opportunities across jet engines, naval propulsion, land systems and advanced engineering.

In an interview with PTI, Sashi Mukundan, executive vice president of Rolls-Royce India, said the company is planning a “big investment” in the country, with the development of a next-generation aero engine in India identified as a key priority.

The proposed engine would power combat aircraft to be produced under India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.

Apart from the UK, Rolls-Royce currently considers the United States and Germany as its home markets, where it has a substantial presence, including manufacturing facilities.

Mukundan said Rolls-Royce could also contribute to India’s requirement for electric propulsion capability to strengthen the Indian Navy’s combat capabilities. He added that a jet engine programme for the AMCA involving Rolls-Royce could support India’s plans to manufacture engines for naval propulsion, as the company is among the few global engine makers with the capability to “marinize” an aero engine.

Without disclosing investment figures, Mukundan said Rolls-Royce is looking to significantly expand its footprint in India, citing the country’s “scale, policy clarity, and a strong push” towards a rapidly expanding and increasingly sophisticated defence and industrial ecosystem.

“If everything goes well, it would be a significant investment. It’ll be big enough that people will notice it, but I don’t want to put a number to it. What matters is the impact of this investment, which would be the development of the entire value chain and ecosystem here across sectors that we operate in,” he said.

Mukundan also said the company will finalise two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with two Indian defence public sector undertakings. One MoU will be for manufacturing engines for the Arjun tanks, while the other will cover engines for future ready combat vehicles.

In October, Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic, during a business roundtable, had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India would be critical for the company’s future growth.

“We have developed two other home markets outside the UK — the US and Germany. We want to make India our next one. What do we mean by that? We want to do everything across the field, and it’s not just defence,” Mukundan said.

“That ambition cuts across defence, naval propulsion, land systems, manufacturing, advanced engineering skills, and technology development, all of which align closely with India’s own priorities,” he said.

On the AMCA engine programme, Mukundan said extensive discussions and preparatory work are underway.

“If India is thinking about next-generation engines, Rolls-Royce is probably the best partner. We have the capability, we have the experience both in India and globally, and we have repeatedly demonstrated that we can do it,” he said.

Mukundan said all engine design work could be carried out in India, with relevant technologies transferred and new intellectual property jointly owned with India.

“Once you own design IP, you have strategic control. Manufacturing then becomes the next stage, and that is always more complex. It’s about ensuring that capability is built systematically and safely,” he said.

He said a Rolls-Royce engine developed for the AMCA could also support India’s plans for electric propulsion systems for naval platforms.

Explaining further, Mukundan said electric and hybrid naval propulsion systems are marine gas turbines derived from aero engine cores.

“Rolls-Royce is one of the few engine makers who have the capability to marinize the aero engine at scale. Why this matters is that it is not viable to build an entire marine propulsion supply chain from scratch here because the quantities in the navy are very low,” he said.

“But if the aero-core derivative is built and co-designed in India, the overlapping supply chain becomes justifiable and can support both the aero and naval marine,” he added.

Mukundan also highlighted Rolls-Royce’s position in global jet engine manufacturing.

“If we look at it globally, we’ve been building and certifying engines every 18 months including combat and commercial. If I talk specifically about combat, we power the Eurofighter Typhoon with our EJ200 engine, which is one of our recent engine programmes, with 90 kilonewton thrust capacity,” he said.

He said Rolls-Royce is leading the Global Combat Aircraft Programme, a joint initiative by the UK, Japan and Italy to develop a sixth-generation aircraft engine.

“We were also part of a joint programme where GE and Rolls-Royce together developed an engine specifically for the fifth-generation F-35, which is another example of recent engine development, particularly in the thrust range or even above the thrust range that India is looking to build,” Mukundan said.

The F136 engine was the only engine specifically developed for the F-35 aircraft, with development led by GE Aviation and Rolls-Royce.

Mukundan said Rolls-Royce remains bullish on India, pointing to the Indian government’s “visible focus” on building indigenous capabilities across naval, land and air domains.

“Over the long term, India will be a major global power. And India is increasingly supporting others in the Global South. For us, there is a lot to work with, and it is all linked,” he said.

“It’s not just about market access; India is one of the few places where all the pieces genuinely fit together.”

“For Rolls-Royce, that makes India not just an important market, but a long-term strategic home,” he added.

(With inputs from PTI)