Rockwell Collins Draws Big Plans For India

Having established its presence in 2008 in India, Rockwell Collins, a communication solutions provider for aerospace and defense, plans to play an aggressive role in the country to capture a sizable market share.

According to the company, the overall market opportunity in military solutions is close to US $50 billion annually in India, however, the company's solution portfolio presently caters to only a US $2-billion market. Though the company is presently doing business of only a few million dollars, it aims to bag deals worth US $100 million by December 2012.

Rockwell Collins says it is in India for a long-term play, and has already invested close to US $40 million in its design and research center in Hyderabad. It claims that the communication solutions designed at the center are ten years ahead of their time. The center currently has around 450 engineers working in it. The company's total headcount in India grew up to 600 this year.

"We are witnessing a huge market potential in the communication space in defense, Navy and Air force," says Ram Prasad, Managing Director, Rockwell Collins. "We have responded to several RFP requests that come to us. Some of them are in very advanced stages. Some we have won in the past, especially in the public sector," Prasad adds.

The company's solution portfolio includes audio management and controls, communication radios, modems, networks, flight information solutions, data links and surveillance. In India, it currently competes with companies like Honeywell International Inc. and Rhode and Schwartz.

The company claims to have sold a deployed based of around 30,000 radios worldwide.

In India, Rockwell Collins has existing clients such as Jet Airways, GoAir, Air India, Indian Airline, Indigo and SpiceJet. It is also connected with HCL Technologies Ltd. as an offshoring partner for its engineering works.

-Jatinder Singh, Principal Correspondent, Light Reading India