BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated Boeing’s new global engineering and technology campus near Bengaluru.
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Built at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore, the 43-acre state-of-the-art Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) campus is the aviation giant’s largest such investment outside the US.
The campus at Hightech Defence and Aerospace Park in Devanahalli on the city outskirts has been envisioned to become a cornerstone for partnerships with the startups, and private and government ecosystem in India, which would assist in the development of the next-generation products and services for the global aerospace and defence industry.
“Bengaluru is a city that connects aspirations with innovations and achievements. Bengaluru connects India’s tech potential with global demand. This new global technology campus of Boeing will strengthen Bengaluru’s identity,” said PM Modi after inaugurating the centre.
“This facility displays India’s commitment to drive global tech, research and innovation, design and demand. It strengthens the resolve of Make in India, Make for the World,” he added.
Boeing’s engineering centres in Bengaluru and Chennai together employ 6,000 engineers working in the areas of mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering for current and future aviation programmes.
The centres work on avionics software applications, data science & analytics, enterprise systems, flight & vehicle technologies and platform among others. Boeing has 57,000 engineers globally and 13.9% of it’s engineers are outside of the US.
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BIETC undertakes complex advanced aerospace work and supports Boeing’s global engineering growth. Boeing engineering and technology campus with future avionics manufacturing and assembly capability has come up in Bengaluru.
David L Calhoun, Boeing president and CEO, said, “We are honoured and privileged to support Prime Minister Modi’s transformative vision for India, and we are grateful to have him dedicate the Boeing campus to foster aerospace innovation in the country,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi also launched the Boeing Sukanya Program which aims to support young women to participate in India’s growing aviation sector. The programme intends to provide opportunities for girls and women from across India to learn critical skills in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and train for jobs in the aviation sector.
For young girls, the programme will create STEM Labs at 150 planned locations to help spark interest in STEM careers. The programme will also provide scholarships to women who are training to be pilots. Investments will support flight training curriculum, obtaining certifications, funding for simulator training, and career development programmes.
Stephanie Pope, chief operating officer, of The Boeing Company, said, “We are thrilled for Prime Minister Modi to have personally launched the Boeing Sukanya Program. Together, we will help expand opportunity for women across India to pursue careers and leadership positions in the aviation sector.”
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Boeing’s relationship with India goes back to the 1940s when the Indian Air Force enlisted two Boeing aircraft– the T-6 Texan, or Harvard Advanced Trainer, made by North American Aviation, and the C-47 Skytrain military transport, a military variant of the DC-3, made by McDonnell Douglas.
