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Bengaluru: Airbus and Boeing work with a clutch of Indian IT firms to accelerate their engineering services efforts. 

Four Indian IT firms -- Quest Global, AxisCades, Tech Mahindra and infosys -- are part of 29 engineering service providers listed in Airbus's main supplier list. Quest has won the Wing & Pylon Deesign Centre offshore development centre contract from Airbus. Infosys offers engineering services related to landing gear, while Axis Cades provides a range of engineering services for the fuselage. 

Boeing counts TCS, Cyient, HCL America and HCL Technologies, and TAL Manufacturing Solutions among its IT and engineering services providers. Cyient, which gets nearly 50% of its revenue from aerospace and railways, works on solutions ranging from aero engines and aero systems to avionics and aero structures. 

Engineering services has become one of the new growth engines for IT companies as the traditional business witnesses pricing headwinds and customers demand that their IT partners deploy productive levers including automation on routine processes. 

Indian IT firms provide an array of services to the two bug aerospace majors including in the areas of repair and overhaul, missile and rotary-wing propulsion systems, electrical, communication and display systems, landing gear and large integrated assemblies. "Overall, Airbus R&D spend was $3.2 billion in 2017. Our estimate suggests that more than 20% of that is outsourced to engineering service providers and Indian heritage service providers get less than 2% of Airbus' R&D spend. Going forward, there is a potential of upside for Indian engineering service providers as Airbus goes for digital transformation. Indian providers could also look for acquisition of European engineering service providers to extend their footprint in both Airbus and aerospace engineering," said Pareekh Jain, founder of Pareekh Consulting. Aibus published its suppliers list in September. 

Earlier this year, Boeing shared in a press statement that it spent almost $60 billion with nearly 13,000 suppliers from all 450 US state and 57 countries in 2017. Supplier provided components, service and engineering support make up approximately 65% of the cost of Boeing products. Boeing buys many products and services each year which fall into ten genral categories including aerospace support, avionics, hydraulics and mechanical systems, major structures and interiors. 

Besides tying up with IT service providers, both Boeing and Airbus have their own R&D centres in India. Airbus has 5,000 employees in its engineering centre in Bengaluru that focuses on advanced capabilities in modelling and simulation, flight management systems, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and digital simulation and visualization - which are critical factors in the design and production of high-performance aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and the A350 XWB.

Boeing has the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Centre (BIETC) in Bengaluru that focuses on blockchain, data analytics and software design. In June, the company said it has over 1,000 people in the centre. Its upcoming new campus near the Bengaluru airport can accomodate some 3,000 engineers. 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/indias-engineering-footprint-in-airbus-boeing-is-growing/articleshow/67188524.cms