Aircraft

Rolls-Royce is boosting its presence in India through the establishment of a subsidiary in Bangalore to manage design and engineering work carried out by engineering subcontractor Quest (Quality Engineering and Software Technologies). The company says Rolls-Royce Operations India – a management company with around 10 staff – will supervise “the growing volume of engineering work that it is subcontracting in the country”. R-R has been working on a pilot progamme with Quest for 18 months, setting up a centre in Bangalore in March. One hundred engineers are working on R-R projects at the centre. R-R says this number could double by early 2007, and this could lead to an increase in the management team. The Quest engineers are involved mainly on military products, but could work on civil engines too, the company says.

R-R says around 1,000 aeroengines are in service in India, and it has placed around £1.5 million ($2.5 million) of engineering work in India. But the amount of business awarded will not depend on 
R-R’s domestic market share. Indian companies can work on engines destined for customers worldwide. R-R Operations India “will enable R-R to take advantage of the capability that exists in India to develop, reliably and to consistently high-quality standards, affordable aero engineering solutions – including engineering analysis and design capability”, the company says.