Swedish major keen to build warplanes in India

In a strong pitch offering the newly-unveiled Gripen E multi-role fighter aircraft to India, Swedish defence major Saab has bid to set up a huge establishment in India that will also make fighter aircrafts and other defence products.

“We see India as a home market, we want to be here for the next hundred years and become an Indian company and pay our taxes. That is why we are ready to set up a complete production unit and facility in India. It means we would be moving everything to India and copy-pasting of what we have in Sweden in Indian soil,” Jan Widerstrom, chairman and managing director (CMD), Saab India Tecnologies, told this newspaper on the sidelines of a function.

India’s already-sealed government-to-government deal with France to buy 36 Rafale fighters has set in a clamour among the major global war-plane makers to bid for the more such buys by India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the purchase of 36 fighter jets during his visit to France in April 2015.

At present, the Indian Air Force — the fourth largest in the world — has 33 fighter aircraft squadrons, much short of its critical strength of 42 squadrons.

Besides Saab, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Dassault have also offered their multi-role fighters to India.

Declining to reveal much about the ongoing negotiations with the Indian government, Widerstrom said: “We are talking about a Government-to-Government deal here. We have the full backing of the Swedish government and there is a good dialogue on with India”.