Possible For India To Make Large Aircraft: Boeing

PARIS: It is possible for large airplanes to be manufactured in India, although it will take a long time because requirements are huge for capital, skills and infrastructure, aircraft maker Boeing has said.

The $105-billion global giant also said the government's 'Make in India' programme has become a major incentive for foreign investors and every company wants to be associated with it because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal involvement in the initiative.

Stating that India is on the right track and it needs to gradually move up, senior Boeing executive Dinesh Keskar said that the country and the companies there would need to consistently develop skills and other necessary requirements to reach the stage of making large planes.

He was replying to a query on whether large airplanes like Boeing 787 can ever be made in India.

"That will be a long time. Even China, which is way ahead in manufacturing, is still not doing it. It takes three things -- a huge amount of capital, a highly skilled labour force and top-end facilities," Keskar told PTI in an interview.

"Boeing bets it's big every time it builds a new plane. You need billions of dollars," said Keskar, senior vice-president for Asia Pacific and India Sales at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He was here for the Paris International Air Show, which concluded this weekend.

Explaining further, the aircraft industry veteran said, "You need an amazing amount of skilled labour who knows how to build different systems and integrate it all together."

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