By IANS,
Hyderabad : A technology centre to undertake research and development in aerospace, defence and urban innovation, including civil security, set up by Saab India Technologies Pvt. Ltd. in partnership with Mahindra Satyam was inaugurated in this growing IT hub Friday.
“The Saab India Technology Centre (SITC) will form a bridge between India and Sweden. The aim of the centre is to support the internal operational excellence and optimization initiatives within Saab, while also supporting Saab to expand in the Indian market,” a statement from the Swedish major said.
An initial base of 100 skilled Indian engineers to be inducted by the close of 2012 will form the backbone of the centre. The SITC is expected to increase its headcount to at least 300 over the next three years.
The primary areas of development will include software engineering, electronic engineering and mechanical engineering. The SITC envisages future development in the areas of signal processing and systems engineering, the statement said.
Inaugurating the centre, Saab President and CEO Håkan Buskhe said: “With the establishment of this research and development centre, Saab has invested in a sustainable and long term relationship with Mahindra Satyam to co-develop critical technologies not only for India but to support our global markets. This Centre is a part of Saab’s future offer for the world market.”
Mahindra Satyam CEO C.P. Gurnani said: “Aerospace and defence is a major growth area for us and establishment of the SITC is a strategic step towards synergizing Mahindra Satyam’s unique strengths in mission critical systems, engineering services, systems integration and Saab’s expertise in aerospace, network-centric warfare and special IT systems.
According to Saab India Technologies Managing Director Inderjit Sial, the centre “represents Saab’s commitment to investing in India and partnering in creating India’s technology base in areas of national security and defence needs”.
“Saab is providing technological and knowledge partnership to support India’s ambition to be an independent player within the defence technology market, with special focus on aerospace technology,” Sial added.
Mahindra Satyam is part of the $12.5 billion Mahindra Group, a global federation of companies and one of India’s top 10 business houses. The group’s interests span automotive products, aviation, components, farm equipment, financial services, hospitality, information technology, logistics, real estate and retail.
Mahindra Satyam development and delivery centers in Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Egypt, Hungary, Malaysia, Singapore, the UAE and the US, apart from India, serve numerous clients, including many Fortune 500 organizations.
Saab has about 12,500 employees. Annual sales are around 24 billion krona ($3.6 billion) and research and development corresponds to about 20 percent of annual sales.