France’s Safran breaks ground for M88 military engine maintenance facility worth €40 million in Hyderabad

France’s Safran broke ground for a facility exclusively for maintenance of the M88 military engines, which power Rafale fighter jets, in Hyderabad on Wednesday (November 26, 2025). It is located adjacent to the largest maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre it opened globally for LEAP engine in the city.

The 5,000 square metre facility will entail an investment of more than €40 million. As the first MRO shop outside France for the M88 engines, it will provide services for more than 600 engine modules a year and employ up to 150 people at full capacity.

Prioritising engines on aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), it will also perform MRO for other M88 export customers, Safran said following an event in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and others spoke.

India is a long-standing customer for Safran’s military engines. The country recently ordered 26 Rafale M naval variants and already operates 36 Rafale and 47 Mirage 2000 fighters, the firm said. The firm’s leadership reaffirmed committment to deepen engagement with India, especially ‘Make in India’, and also cited the joint venture and cooperation agreement signed with Bharat Electronics to manufacture locally “Hammer” air-to-surface weapon.

“We are proud to support the rapid growth of India’s civil and defense aerospace markets and actively contribute to the country’s Make in India policy and strategic autonomy. Safran will triple its revenue in India to more than €3 billion by 2030, of which half will be generated by our sites in India. At the same time, Safran will multiply by five its sourcing in the country,” CEO Olivier Andries said.

Total investment on the LEAP engine MRO will be €200 million investment. The 45,000 square metre facility, to be operational in 2026, will ramp up to a capacity of 300 LEAP shop visits a year and boast a next-generation test bench.

It will support the rapid growth in the region of the CFM International LEAP fleet, which powers most latest-generation narrow-body aircraft, including Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX.

India is CFM’s third-largest market, with five Indian carriers operating more than 400 LEAP-powered aircraft and 2,000 engines on order. The new site will employ more than 250 people at launch and up to 1,100 at full capacity, Safran said.

Chairman of Safran’s Board, Ross McInnes, said the bond between India and France is built over seven decades of trust and friendship and rooted in the shared ambition of strategic autonomy.

“This strong bond also reflects the relationship our group, Safran, has forged with your country over these last 70 years in the defence sector [starting] with engines provided for Dassault Ouragan fighter aircraft to India in 1953. Over the years, India has emerged as the number one market for Safran’s inertial navigation and systems, with more than 2,200 systems installed on combat aircraft, helicopters, submarines, frigates, tanks and artillery guns,” he said.