Anil Shrikhande is first Rolls-Royce India president
Friday, 05 December 2008, 22:57 IST
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New Delhi: Rolls-Royce Thursday announced the appointment of Anil Shrikhande as the first president of its India operations to "reinforce the company's commitment to India as an important center for sourcing, technology services and product development". With Shrikhande assuming leadership of all Rolls-Royce operations and activities in India and South Asia, the appointment "also reflects India's importance as a long-term market for all its four businesses - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy", a company statement said. According to Rolls-Royce chief executive John Rose, "India is an important market for Rolls-Royce and I am very pleased to welcome Anil to the group." "Anil brings extensive experience that will be very valuable to us as we continue to grow and develop our business in India and South Asia," Rose added. Shrikhande said: "Rolls-Royce has a solid foundation built up over 75 years in India. I look forward to building on that and developing collaborations which capitalise on India's growing competencies in manufacturing and technology services." Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, Shrikhande held a number of executive positions at Boeing, including as vice-president, Boeing Integrated Defence Systems, and president, Boeing India. His previous roles in India also include president of Unisys India and board membership of Tata Uniysys. With Shrikhande's appointment, Srinivas Duvvuri, previously regional director-India, is transferring to a new role in the group's Bangalore office. Rolls-Royce has more than 1,300 engines in service in India, mainly as a result of long-term defence programmes. However, all four of the company's global market sectors are well represented. The Rolls-Royce association with Indian aviation dates back to 1932 when Tata Aviation Services took to the skies with an aircraft powered by Gipsy engines. Bristol Jupiter MkVIII engines powered the Westland Wapiti aircraft for the Indian Air Force Number 1 squadron raised on April 1, 1933, beginning a 75-year relationship that Rolls-Royce and the IAF celebrated this year. Rolls-Royce also has a long standing relationship with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) that dates back over 52 years to a collaboration that began in 1956 with the assembly of engines under licence that has now progressed to component manufacturing for the world's most successful large turbofan engine, the Trent. As part of its educational engagement with India, Rolls-Royce is co sponsoring the Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarship programme for the second year. The scholarships will enable academically outstanding Indian students to pursue studies at St John's College, Cambridge, for MPhil and PhD degrees. Following the tsunami in 2004, Rolls-Royce took a leading role in rebuilding a high school in Tamil Nadu that currently provides education to 300 students. Previously, Rolls-Royce has also raised money, along with the Rotary Club, to build a school for disadvantaged children in Kochi.
Source: IANS
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