Rossell, CAE Get FIPB Approval To Form Joint Venture Company

Rossell India Limited and CAE will embark on a joint venture to provide synthetic training solutions for the Indian defence market. Rossell made the announcement today after it received approval from the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to form a joint venture company with CAE. Under terms of the shareholders agreement, Rossell India Limited will hold a 74 percent share of the joint venture company with CAE holding a 26 percent share. The goal of the JV will be to focus primarily on providing training solutions for defence procurements where India is acquiring foreign platforms. The Indian Ministry of Defence is seeking to further develop the indigenous capabilities of Indian industry and this Indian-owned joint venture company will fully qualify to meet this objective under the Indian offset criteria for defence programs. "Rossell has been looking for growth opportunities and we are pleased to form a joint venture with a global leader such as CAE," said Harsh Mohan Gupta, Executive Chairman, Rossell India Limited. "The Indian Ministry of Defence has specifically recognized simulation and training services as being eligible for offsets so we expect this company, which will have access to CAE's world-class technology and experience, to be an attractive partner to foreign OEMs looking to meet offset requirements". "The Indian defence forces recognize the benefit that simulation can provide to enhance their operational training while reducing costs, and are now requiring high fidelity simulation for all their major platform acquisitions," said Martin Gagne, CAE's Group President, Military Products, Training and Services. "CAE believes simulation and training will continue to take on more importance in India, which is why we have and will continue to make significant investments in-country. We are firmly committed to being a long-term partner by bringing our world-class technology and capabilities to India's defence forces". In 2011, CAE officially inaugurated its new aerospace and defence complex in Bengaluru, where CAE India Pvt Ltd designs and develops training systems for India's defence forces and CAE operates an engineering centre of excellence for the development of visual databases and other software components for CAE's simulators. In addition, CAE trains pilots from India's main airlines at CAE's Bengaluru aviation training centre and jointly owns with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) the Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF), India's first advanced helicopter training centre, located in Bengaluru.