Make In India: Safran To Make LEAP Engine Parts In Hyderabad

Hyderabad: France's Safran, one of the world's largest aerospace suppliers, will develop a new plant to manufacture parts of the LEAP turbofan engine of aircraft in Hyderabad. The new manufacturing facility, which involves an investment of around Rs 323.3 crore, will be the first in the country for LEAP turbofan engines. The facility will cover 140,400 sq ft, including 86,400 sq ft of workshops, besides its electric wiring plant in the special economic zone near of GMR at the Hyderabad international airport.

The transition from CFM engines to LEAP engines

It will have a capacity of around 20,000 units a year, said global chief executive, Philippe Petitcolin. The new facility will be built with the objective to assist Safran in its transition to LEAP turbofan engines from CFM engines, Petitcolin said while addressing media ahead of the Aero India Show.

While construction of the plant will likely begin in June, the company hopes to deliver the building and producing the first parts in early next year. The defence and aerospace giant also has an electrical wirings facility in the city set up at an investment of around Rs 80 Crore apart from a training services unit for CFM engines.

The facility is primarily being set up with the aim to promote competition among global suppliers of Safran, considering the high commitment to execute orders on hand of around 15,000 engines to be delivered in the coming seven to eight years, said Petitcolin, who added that the company also plans to achieve a capacity of 2,000 LEAP engines a year at least.

LEAP crosses 3 million mark

Petitcolin believes LEAP is the fastest-selling engine in the history of aviation, saying it has now passed the mark of 3 million flight hours having entered service in 2016. It already powers over 700 Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX commercial airliners, including 54 run by carriers from the country.

Safran is considering possibilities of building more manufacturing facilities for components of LEAP turbofan engines in India, Petitcolin added.