“We have been present in India for the past 60 years and are here to stay because we believe we can contribute to the development of the country in the various fields where our solution, technology, and capability can be used. That long-term commitment is only marginally a function of the legal and regulatory framework to which we simply have to comply. The recent increase in FDI cap is an important move for defining the modalities of our presence in India, but not for defining the interest we have in India.

Indeed, since 1953, Thales has proactively shared knowledge, technical know-how and expertise with the Indian industry. The company has created Joint Ventures with Samtel and BEL, among others. Thales has also been developing its local supply chain with 15 small businesses in India and plans to increase the list with 15 more this year – all that irrespective of the FDI cap level.

This said from a purely technical standpoint, we consider that the real game changer will be to allow 51 per cent of Foreign Direct Investment in the Indian Defense manufacturing companies. This would further enlarge the possibilities to locally develop technology for a company like Thales.”