GKN Fokker Elmo (www.gkn.com) and the Indian state of Maharashtra have signed an MOU covering a second manufacturing facility for wiring interconnection systems in India.

The new facility will be located in Pune, and production will start in the first quarter of 2019. The workforce is expected to grow to 800 by 2027.

The site will focus on the assembly of wiring systems for commercial aircraft and will operate alongside the existing Joint Venture for wiring systems in Bangalore, which serves the defence market.

The plans also include the installation of a proprietary wiring design and manufacturing system that is used world-wide to ensure consistency and high quality.

In recent years, GKN Aerospace, GKN Driveline and GKN Powder Metallurgy have made significant investments in India, where they operate eight facilities with 2000 employees.

India is an important country in GKN Aerospace’s plan to expand its Asian footprint. The company also recently announced a new facility in Malaysia; by the time both sites are fully ‘up and running’, around 15% of GKN Aerospace’s employees will be based in Asia.

John Pritchard, CEO (Aerostructures and Systems Europe and Asia), said: “This electrical wiring systems site will be the first aerospace facility fully owned by us in India.

“It strengthens our enduring partnership with this country. The growth of the aerospace industry in India is robust, and we need to be close to our customers.

“The support of the regional government has been vital, and we look forward to the opening of the site at the end of this year.”