Rolls-Royce [LSE: RR., ADR: RYCEY] hosted its Board meeting in India for the first time this week, reaffirming the strategic importance of the Indian market to the company. During the three-day visit, Tufan Erginbilgiç, CEO of Rolls-Royce, met with the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi to discuss the company’s long-term ambitions for India and opportunities to support the country’s priorities as a strategic partner across defence, aerospace and energy.

Dame Anita Frew, Chair, and the Board of Directors met with Rolls-Royce’s India leadership team and government stakeholders during their visit. They also visited Rolls-Royce’s Global Capability and Innovation Centre in Bengaluru where teams across Engineering, Defence, Global Business Services as well as Digital and IT demonstrated the depth of capabilities being delivered from the country.

Speaking about the visit, Tufan Erginbilgiç said:

“India is very important to Rolls-Royce and our long-term growth ambitions. We want to deepen our role as a strategic partner supporting energy security, infrastructure growth, national security and connectivity, contributing to economic growth for India. From developing sovereign aero-engine capability, to exploring new opportunities across power and propulsion, our focus is on building partnerships and capabilities that can create lasting value for India and Rolls-Royce.”

The decision to visit India reflects its growing importance to Rolls-Royce and its commitment to developing deeper partnerships and strengthened capabilities in the country. The company’s future growth ambitions in India build on its decades-long presence, established industrial partnerships, growing engineering footprint and expanding manufacturing and supply chain ecosystem.

In August 2026, Rolls-Royce and Reliance Industries announced their strategic intent to partner and offer capabilities for the design, development, manufacturing and delivery of a sovereign indigenous combat engine for India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. The partnership would include the establishment of a dedicated Aerospace Gas Turbine Complex (AGTC) in India, with the AMCA engine programme as an anchor. The AGTC is envisaged as a complete sovereign aero-engine ecosystem spanning design, development, manufacturing, testing, production and through-life support. It could also create a long-term national capability supporting future military, naval and civil aerospace applications.

Beyond combat aerospace, Rolls-Royce has significant presence in India across its Civil Aviation, Defence, and Power Systems businesses. The company is pursuing opportunities that can deepen its role in partnering India’s Viksit Bharat ambitions for self-reliance in defence and energy as well as supporting the robust growth of the country’s civil aviation sector, infrastructure and industry.