Schoenefeld, Berlin: A feverish combination of excitement and confidence hung in the cool air of one of EADS’ sprawling chalets at the Berlin Air Show. Since every division of the conglomerate had its own chalet, sometimes two with one reserved for media briefings, it was with after a few misses that one reached the right one to meet the trio of Dr Stefan Zoller, Bernhard Gerwert and Bernd Wenzler. Both the excitement and exuberance were understandable; because the Berlin Air Show 2010 was more of an EADS party and the company banner was imprinted all across the air show.

Ten years ago, EADS consolidated various disparate groups, involved in different activities throughout Europe to create a new entity called EADS Defence and Security. And today EADS DS has a finger in every pie across the defence and security spectrum including space. Hence, the company decided to use the ILA opportunity to announce its arrival and reach out to new markets, developing them as their own. Meeting up exclusively with the Indian media in Berlin was a part of that exercise. In the last couple of years EADS has made a substantial investment in India — not the least in infrastructure and creation of an Indian subsidiary called EADS DS India Pvt Ltd — to reiterate its desire to developing India as a home market.

Little wonder then, it was a buoyant Stefan Zoller, chief executive officer, EADS DS and member of the executive committee, who declared with a degree of flamboyance that stems from self-assurance, “Our interest in India is independent of any tender or campaign. We want to nurture India as a home market, develop it into a centre of excellence so that in time, a degree of our manufacturing is transferred there. I look forward to the day when we start exporting from India throughout the world.”
Irrespective of the ambition, Zoller is realistic enough to acknowledge the roadblocks. The biggest being the government of India restriction on foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector. Currently the limit is capped at 26 per cent, which is simply too low to seriously interest a foreign player. Zoller says, “If we have to make a substantial investment in India, transfer serious technology then 26 per cent control over our assets is not good enough. We have made a case for 50 per cent, which to my mind is still not enough, but we will be content to work with that because of the sheer size of the Indian market.”