Boeing and Tata Industries announce India joint venture

The Boeing Company and Tata Industries Limited of India have agreed on a plan to form a joint-venture company that will initially include more than US$500 million of defense-related aerospace component work in India for export to Boeing and its international customers.

Under the memorandum of agreement signed by Boeing and Tata, it is contemplated that the joint-venture company will be established by June 2008, and shortly thereafter will begin work building Boeing aerospace components.

"I am very excited to announce this agreement," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. "It represents another step in our commitment to India, in this case by linking the capabilities and heritages of these two companies, in order to bring real and lasting value to India's aerospace industry, while making Boeing products more globally competitive."

It is the intent of Boeing and Tata not only to utilize existing Tata manufacturing capability, but also to develop new supply sources throughout the Indian manufacturing and engineering communities for both commercial and defense applications.

"This joint venture between Tata and Boeing is an important part of our strategy to build capabilities in defense and aerospace," said Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group. "I look forward to the joint venture becoming a world-class facility in India."

Manufacturing capabilities established within the joint-venture company would in later phases be leveraged across multiple Boeing programs, including the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition.

In the first phase of the agreement, Boeing would potentially issue contracts for work packages to the joint-venture company involving defense-related component manufacturing on Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet for the U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Air Force, CH-47 Chinook and/or P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft. A research and development center for advanced manufacturing technologies is also contemplated.

"Boeing is strengthening and deepening its partnerships with Indian industry through a wide range of new teaming opportunities," said Ian Thomas, president of Boeing India. "Our joint venture with Tata marks a significant milestone in our ongoing journey to build world-class aerospace and defense manufacturing capability in India."

Boeing's history in India reaches back more than 60 years, marked by success in working with airline customers, parts suppliers, research institutes and others to provide products and services. In December 2003, Boeing established a wholly owned subsidiary, Boeing International Corporation India Private Limited (BICIPL), to support the growing demands of India's aviation, aerospace and defense industries.