Stories
Rolls-Royce Global Board Meeting In India And PM Modi Meet Spark Defense Boost
- •Rolls-Royce held its global board meeting in India for the first time, marking a historic shift away from London or New York.
- •Rolls-Royce Global CEO Tufan Erginbilgic held a high-level meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss self-reliance in defense and aerospace.
- •A strategic partnership between Rolls-Royce and Reliance Industries announced in August 2026 aims to develop an indigenous combat engine for India's AMCA fighter jets.
- •An Aerospace Gas Turbine Complex is planned in India to build a complete ecosystem for engine design, manufacturing, testing, and long-term maintenance.
- •The company is expanding its focus beyond defense into civil aviation, energy security, and infrastructure development, viewing India as the talent hub of the future.
Key Questions Answered
Rolls-Royce and Reliance Industries partnered to jointly design, develop, manufacture, and deliver a sovereign indigenous combat engine for India's next-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program. The collaboration also involves establishing a dedicated Aerospace Gas Turbine Complex (AGTC) in India to create a complete domestic ecosystem ranging from engine design and manufacturing to testing and long-term maintenance.
For the first time in history, Rolls-Royce hosted its global board meeting on Indian soil instead of London or New York, signaling India's rising strategic importance to the company. Prior to this meeting, Global CEO Tufan Erginbilgic met directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to advance plans for making India self-reliant in defense and aerospace. During their visit to Bengaluru, the board also toured the Global Capability and Innovation Center to witness the engineering and digital teams' capabilities firsthand.
Beyond defense, Rolls-Royce is actively expanding its presence in civil aviation and power systems to support India's infrastructure development and energy security. The company's leadership aims to scale localized sourcing significantly over the next five years, building on existing manufacturing footprints like the International Aerospace Manufacturing Private Ltd (IAMPL) joint venture with HAL in Bengaluru and Hosur.
