Safran has inaugurated MRO facilities in India for the CFM International Leap commercial engine and the M88 fighter engine.
Both facilities are in Hyderabad and the event was attended by key company executives and Indian officials.
Safran invested €200 million ($232 million) in the Leap MRO centre, which will become operational in 2026. It will initially employ over 250 people, later rising to 1,100 – local employment is a major priority of the Modi government.
The 45,000sq m (484,000 sq ft) facility will eventually be able to handle 300 Leap shop visits annually.
The Leap-1A is an engine option on the Airbus A320neo family, while the -1B is the exclusive powerplant on the Boeing 737 Max. India represents CFM’s third largest market, with five Indian airlines operating jets powered by Leap engines, with an additional 2,000 engines on order.
CFM is a 50/50 joint venture between Safran and GE Aerospace.
In addition, the M88 MRO shop represents an investment of over €40 million. It is adjacent to the Leap facility and will employ up to 150 people at full capacity and will be able to service over 600 M88 modules annually.
FlightGlobal’s 2026 World Air Forces directory indicates that the Indian air force operates 35 Dassault Aviation Rafales and the Indian navy has committments for 26. The Rafale is powered by a pair of M88s.
On 24 November, Safran also entered a joint venture with Bharat Electronics to produce the Safran Electronics & Defense Hammer air-to-surface weapon. The precision-guided Hammer can be used on both the Rafale and Hindustan Aeronautics Tejas.
In addition, 2025 saw Safran invest in a Bengaluru engineering centre specialising in avionics and actuators. It also invested in an avionics and actuator production capability in Bengaluru, which will start operations in 2026.
Safran chief executive Olivier Andries says that the company’s revenue in India will triple to over €3 billion by 2030.
