Hosted by IIM Bangalore and TBS Education, the summit highlights need for eco system development in India through skilling, building scaling capabilities and strengthening supply chains; experts also call for clear vision and road map for the sector in India

18 APRIL, 2026; Bengaluru: The ninth edition of the premier summit for global aviation stakeholders, the International Conference on Future of Aviation and Aerospace (FOAA), hosted by IIM Bangalore, in partnership with TBS Education, France, took off earlier today.

Top executives in the sector, entrepreneurs, policy makers, innovators and researchers gathered to deepen the understanding of one of India’s fastest-growing sectors with hard-earned insights, careful analysis, trends to eye and implications to consider.

The conference is part of a broader collaboration between IIM Bangalore Executive Education and TBS Education, under which the two institutions deliver the General Management Executive Education (GMAE) Programme, designed specifically for executives in the aviation and aerospace industry. Since its inception in 2015, the programme has sought to develop leadership and managerial capabilities to equip talent in the dynamic sector.

The ninth edition engaged critically with the current and future state of aviation through deliberations on market potential, building indigenous capability, design and manufacturing, infrastructure, talent development and the accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence in aerospace.

Welcome note

In his welcome address, Conference Co-chair Prof. G Shainesh, Professor of Marketing & Chairperson of IIMBx, the digital learning arm of IIMB, reflected on the genesis of the conference and its impact over the last eight years. He emphasized the convergence of industry experts at the meet, complimenting “the breadth and depth of talent in the room”. Setting the tone for the conference, Prof. Shainesh highlighted the potential of the aerospace and defense manufacturing sector in India, and listed technology, particularly AI, global competitiveness, safety and efficiency, strategic and policy level challenges, and talent among the challenges. “The sky is literally not the limit for Indian aerospace,” he remarked.

Prof. S Raghunath, Conference Co-chair, observed that while aerospace is being fueled by current geopolitics, civil aviation is being constrained by the very same factors. Listing three questions confronting Indian aerospace and aviation, he said: can we build design capabilities instead of remaining an assembling giant; can we lead in the MRO and life cycle intelligence instead of remaining the IT backroom of the world; and can policy and regulation keep pace with innovation. “If these questions are not answered, we will remain followers, not become leaders in the sector,” he said.

Inaugural address

In her inaugural address, Ms. Annett Baessler, Deputy Consul General, German Consulate General in Bengaluru, noted that she represented one of the 27 member states of the European Union, which she went on to describe as “one of the most integrated aviation markets in the world”. She pointed to deepening India–Europe ties in aviation, citing the signing of India’s MoU with Lufthansa, and the broader momentum in bilateral cooperation.

Highlighting industry linkages, she observed that India has emerged as one of Airbus’s largest engineering hubs outside Europe, with the company’s footprint spanning commercial, defence, and space operations. “India has become a key partner for Germany not only on the manufacturing front, but as a rising force in engineering and design”, she said.

She also underlined India’s order of aircraft orders over the next decade, alongside India’s ‘Make in India’ push, as evidence of the nation’s growing, globally competitive capabilities. With India’s airport footprint having more than doubled in recent years, she pointed to collaborations such as the partnership between Kempegowda International Airport and Frankfurt Airport in strengthening infrastructure, operations and connectivity.

On the road ahead, she noted that the proposed EU–India Free Trade Agreement could further accelerate cooperation, particularly in areas such as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), workforce development and overall sectoral integration, “unleashing a new dynamic between the two powerhouses”.

Keynote address

Luigi Celmi, CEO, Lufthansa Systems India, reflected on a two-decade career in aviation by contextualizing his journey from early industry exposure to leadership. “When I look at this room, I see colleagues from Hamburg, Toulouse, and delegates from around the world,” he noted. Recalling his time in Toulouse, he spoke of his early exposure to the industry as an intern with Airbus. In 2006, he moved to India, where he was involved in overseeing operations, establishing a service centre, and building teams with engineers from France. Within a few years, he observed, India had developed strong indigenous engineering capabilities of its own. Now at the helm of Lufthansa Systems India, he advised those new to the industry to keep pace and enjoy the dynamic personal growth that comes with being part of the evolution of the aviation ecosystem. 

PANEL 1

The first panel of the day titled ‘Market Potential for Aviation & Aerospace in India’ featured Belson Coutinho, COO, Akasa Air; Sunil Bhaskaran, Director - Air India Aviation Academy, Air India Limited; and Dr. Vasudevan S, Former APAC Head - Aviation, Travel and Tourism, ICF Consulting, and Advisor, AeroInfraStratgix, with Prof. G Shainesh as the moderator.

 “India’s aerospace and aviation sector is at an inflection point, so the time is right to identify strategic priorities that can shape growth,” said Prof. Shainesh.

“Expansion of airports, digitization, modernization of airspace, MRO development, and opportunity to build good talent meant that this sector was entering its golden era in India,” said Belson Coutinho, adding that it was these factors that led to the founding of Akasa Air.

He added that, at Akasa Air, the focus is on leveraging this momentum while building resilience. “The noise that comes with growth is temporary; resilience is key.” On sustainability, Coutinho rejected the trade-off narrative, saying that “Profitability and affordability are not opposing forces”. Instead, he stressed prioritizing service and operational excellence anchored in a people-first design. He also outlined three cultural pillars – cost leadership, employee centricity and service excellence, supported by efficient operations. “We are a cloud-first, digital-first airline with a single view of each customer.”

Sunil situated the present moment within a longer arc of transformation. “Over the last 20 years, Indian aviation has seen exponential growth – across safety, technology, systems, processes, and customer service”.  He added that the density of Indian air travel is still at 1/10th of our population, and therefore, shows immense capacity for growth. India’s real differentiator, he suggested, will lie in scaling its value chain through new-age technology.

He also highlighted aviation’s role as a major employment generator, particularly across support services. “Our skilling systems are among the best in the world”, he said, adding that the next step is to strengthen managerial capability. Current approaches, he noted, remain overly vertical-focused, with limited spillovers. Programmes such as those at IIM Bangalore, he suggested, can help bridge this gap and prepare talent for future leadership roles.

Welcoming the energy of the conference, Dr. Vasudevan S posed a pointed reflection to the audience. “With 1,800 aircraft on order and more to come, will India be known merely as the largest operator of aircraft globally or as the owner of the economics that underpin this scale?”

On the broader outlook, he said, said while post-COVID, Indian aviation has seen commendable growth, there is still a great gap to fill as India remains an underpenetrated market. “India’s trajectory is strong but constrained by supply. The only thing holding us back is the lack of aircraft to deploy”. He concluded, noting that regulatory responsiveness by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India will shape how this growth is managed.

PANEL 2

The panel on ‘Make in India – The Achievements of Indian Companies’ brought together industry and entrepreneurial voices to examine how far India’s aerospace ambitions have translated into capability and where gaps persist. Moderated by Dr. Kota Harinarayana, Former Programme Director and Chief Designer, Tejas, Light Combat Aircraft, the discussion with Amit Pathak, Collins Aerospace; Chandrashekar H.G., Sasmos HET Technologies; Jay Harikrishnan, Mahindra Aerospace; and Biju Nanukuttan, AeroEdison, reinforced that while progress has been exponential, the ecosystem still carries structural constraints that need deliberate, coordinated effort to resolve.

“Three decades ago, India took the initiative to launch Tejas, in military aviation, and today we not only produce quality combat aircraft in numbers, but we are also developing the ecosystem – manufacturing, technology, supply chains – in a big way right here in India. In the next two decades, the gamut of state-of-the-art combat aircraft will be produced indigenously. However, in civil aviation, we need to bring a similar focus. We really need a good civil transport aircraft system that is developed indigenously,” said Dr Harinarayana, in his opening remarks.

Amit Pathak framed aerospace as “a melting pot of many different areas of technology”, with its inherent complexity of taking products from design to certified, scalable and commercially viable outcomes under stringent regulatory conditions. Speaking of RTX’s investment in India, he highlighted its scale and sustained investments in indigenous manufacturing, with a workforce of over 7,500, aligned to the broader Make in India agenda.

Chandrashekar H.G. argued that localization is no longer optional. “Passion and precision” are central to building credibility in aerospace, he said, as he outlined the firm’s shift from component manufacturing to end-to-end, mission-critical solutions to India. He detailed the entry strategy of Sasmos, and its role in Operation Sindoor. The company’s trajectory, he noted, is toward moving from build-to-spec to turnkey capabilities that are rooted in local engineering, design and sourcing. “We transformed from a hardware setup in 2007 to a product leader. Seven hundred aircraft, across the globe, use our engineering systems today. We are design-to-build partners in electric systems for aircraft in several parts of the world,” he added.

From an industry integration lens, Jay Harikrishnan spoke on scaling beyond participation. “OEM investments by big players, like Boeing, Lockheed, Airbus, and Safran, are creating a deepening industrial presence in India”. While India has built strengths in aerostructures and precision manufacturing, the next step, he argued, is moving up the value chain into Tier-1 integration. “We need to move from manufacturing Type C components to manufacturing Type A or a mission-critical integration space”, he said. He emphasized India’s need to focus on talent development. “We should invest in capex, no doubt, but we more importantly need to focus on operational excellence that showcases India’s reliability to the world”, he explained.

Biju Nanukuttan brought the conversation back to value creation. “Value addition happens when you move from a small capability steadily toward market and opportunity”, he said, emphasising the need to better align market demand, supply capacity and strategic direction. He closed his remarks saying, “the market, the demand, the supply – they’re all there” – but enabling MSMEs to plug into the larger ecosystem with clarity and capability will determine how much of that value India ultimately captures.

PANEL 3

Dr Srinivasan Dwarakanath, Director General, Aerospace India Association, moderated the fourth session on ‘Design and Manufacture in India for Global Aerospace and Aviation Market: Opportunities and Challenges’ featuring Mukund Santhanam, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer and Head – Investor Relations, Axiscades Technologies Ltd.; Diwakar N Belavadi, CTO, Sasmos Group; Ashwani Bhargava, Senior Director and Head of Procurement, Boeing India; and Divya Manchanda, EVP Business Partnerships & AAM Strategy, The ePlane Company.  

“Supply chains in Europe are struggling to keep up with demand from India and China. Given the current geopolitical scenario, countries like India will have a great opportunity to increase their share in the global supply chain. But this opportunity is not just for India. Countries like Taiwan and the Philippines are looking to be China-plus-one, so how do we help Indian companies to move from build to print to build-to-spec, while driving quality standards,” said Dr. Dwarakanath.

Ashwani Bhargava pointed to the scale of progress already underway. “What is happening in India is incredible”, he said, noting that Boeing’s sourcing from India has grown nearly sevenfold over the past decade, with a supplier base now exceeding 300. Adding perspective, he said, “Today, global supply chains are under stress. Not just because of COVID or the war, but because demand is more than supply in this sector. Execution is becoming a major challenge. However, I can see major capability development over the next 10 years”, he said.

Diwakar Belvadi echoed the transition underway, saying that in the last three years, he has seen a significant shift from build-to-print to build-to-spec to design-to-build. He proposed that the next phase needs investments in systems engineering, regulatory expertise and design thinking. “Customers want to empanel companies to entrust them with high-end precision engineering jobs. So, we need to invest in solid systems engineering capability, and in regulatory and certification knowledge”. He said the manufacturers of components will not be seen as partners but as owners of end-to-end turnkey programs.

Divya Manchanda, whose company builds Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) in India, spoke of the need for talent and skill in this sector to design and manufacture in India for the world.

Mukund Santhanam talked of the need to bring small-scale manufacturing companies into the sector. “In the last few years, the Indian defence industry has been throwing us challenges to which we’ve had to provide solutions from scratch. Whether we can translate this approach to commercial aviation remains a challenge,” Mukund added.

Ashwani Bhargava highlighted the need for product design capabilities to be developed vis-à-vis engineering services capabilities. “Indian suppliers must develop the ability to scale up to meet demand. Attrition in this sector has gone up to 35 per cent, so there is a serious dearth of skilled professionals,” he added. Divya agreed with Ashwani’s assessment on current challenges, explaining that the challenge for companies like ePlane is that they must build at the scale of the automotive industry but to aerospace standards. “Testing facilities for us are another challenge,” she added.

“In India, we have always been followers – we do what other OEMs tell us to! Only when we started building-to-spec did we realize the challenge of the dearth of talent,” remarked Diwakar, adding that academia and industry in India need to collaborate more intensely to develop a talent pool that can sustain for the next 15-20 years. “We need to participate in developing standards”.

PANEL 4 

The session on ‘Future of Airports and Aviation Infrastructure’ included Prof. G. Raghuram, former Director, IIMB, and Wing Commander Jitender Singla, Head of Airside Operations, BIAL. There was a special round of applause for BIAL, which has been consistently rated among the best airports in the country, with a 5-star customer experience rating for Terminal 2. Talking of the MRO hub and of sustainability initiatives at KIA, Singla also listed the community outreach of BIAL to highlight infrastructure development at the airport.

In his presentation, Prof. Raghuram stated: “In general, PPP airports have higher passenger experience ratings, demonstrate stronger performance in responsiveness decision making and coordination, extract value by monetizing/ commercialization airport land, emphasize long term partnerships with airlines and retail operators, and enhance capacity by building new terminals and improving airside and city-side infrastructure.” He concluded with a few questions for the audience on whether the country should go for PPPs in airports, whether we should follow the clubbing model, what should be the bid criterion, duration of the concession period, issues of competition and regulation, and whether AAI should bid.

PANEL 5

The discussion on ‘Future Opportunities and Challenges in Growing Talent’ featured Prof. Christophe Benaroya, Director – Global Executive MBA, TBS Education, France; Prof. Cordula Barzantny, Head of the Centre of Excellence in Aeronautics & Space, TBS Education; Ruchi Dhawan Sharma, Vice President & Head – HR, Indigo; and Suraj Chettri, Founder & CEO, SuChe Business Advisory. “In India, we need to create programs, for middle managers, in this sector, where they go to different companies and work on projects and learn from one another,” said Chettri. “There is a need for speed in this 24/7 industry and there is a need to ensure employee wellness – that is a paradox that talent managers must manage,” said Ruchi Dhawan Sharma.

CONCLUDING SESSION

Prof. S Raghunath chaired the concluding session of the day titled, ‘Future of AI & Analytics in Aerospace and Aviation’, bringing together Vishak Raman, Vice President – Sales, Fortinet; and Uma Maheshwar, Chief Consulting Engineer, GE Aerospace.

“This is an inflection point for the sector,” said Uma Maheshwar, explaining how AI has transformed the aerospace industry, in design engineering and product development. Illustrating his point with examples of business outcomes of adopting AI, he spoke about its value in meeting sustainability commitments, safety standards, and delivering better outcomes for businesses, customers and employees. “Along with adopting of AI, come cyber security risks,” said Vishak Raman, suggesting ways of mitigating such risks through convergence.

In a special session, F R Singhvi, Joint Managing Director, Sansera Engineering, and President of Aerospace India Association, spoke of the need to develop specialized programs for young professionals in the sector in strategy, finance, supply chains etc.

The conference was followed by a GMAE alumni networking event.

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