Boeing to pump Rs 300 cr, 1,100 jobs into Chennai engg hub
Presently, the centre has 700-plus people who are engaged in top-notch engineering work.
Representative image
CHENNAI: Aviation major Boeing is readying itself to invest Rs 300 crore at its global engineering capability centre (GECC) in the city. The formal announcement, through an MoU, will be made at the two-day glitzy Global Investors’ Meet kicking off in Chennai on Sunday, a government official told DT Next.
Boeing India Private Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company, has its engineering and technology capabilities centre in aerospace, aviation, and defence at the DLF IT Park, Chennai.
The latest investment would lead to an additional employment for more than 1,100 people, the official said on condition of anonymity. Presently, the centre has 700-plus people who are engaged in top-notch engineering work. Boeing began its operations in Chennai as Continental Data Graphics (CDG) with 150 people in 2009.
The Chennai centre became a 100 per cent Boeing subsidiary in 2019-20 as part of a global merging process. After turning into a wholly-owned subsidiary, the Boeing Centre has been on an aggressive expansion spree. The pace of development has led to the aviation major scaling up its presence, said a source aware of the developments.
Technical publications for all Boeing aircraft, engineering support and software are the range of activities being done out of this engineering capability centre. “The talent pool is largely from TN, Karnataka and Telangana,” the person said, highlighting the locational advantage. Incidentally, there was a mandate to deploy 40 per cent women few years ago, as the centre started with a 25 per cent women base in 2009 with an investment of $1.5 million. From 15,000 sq ft, Boeing has added at least 10,000 sq ft space more, said the source.
It is learnt that Ramanathan Srinivasan is spearheading the operations. Attempts to reach him did not fructify. As per his LinkedIn profile, the leader of support data engineering, Boeing, is a ‘visionary business executive with experience in setting up new operations and scaling them up.’
Having joined as an engineering manager in March 2012, he has risen to become its director operations in April 2016. Thereafter, when CDG became a fully-owned subsidiary of Boeing, he took charge as site leader in January 2020. Managing the operations with 700-plus employees and yearly revenues exceeding $10 million, he has been in the current role since November 2022.
“Prime focus on execution excellence, value creation, managing disruptions and strategy development. Vast experience in setting up high performing diverse teams. Innovative professional with successful experience in project leadership. Recognised leader in implementing processes, increasing efficiency, maximising productivity, change management, ensuring quality, and customer satisfaction,” his LinkedIn profile further reads.