Rolls-Royce bets big on India—from jet engines to nuclear reactors via a BP playbook

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Aerospace and defence major Rolls-Royce Plc is borrowing from the India playbook of British energy giant BP Plc as it pursues billions of dollars worth of opportunities across defence, civil aviation and nuclear energy in the country.To lead that push, Rolls-Royce has turned to Sashi Mukundan, the former head of BP’s India business, who spent 24 years building the energy company’s partnerships in the country across gas, fuel retail and mobility ventures.The man who recruited him: Rolls-Royce chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic, who himself spent two decades at BP, including five years leading its downstream business.“Tufan was also with BP before. He’s seen how BP built the relationship in India,” Mukundan, now executive vice president Transformation India at Rolls-Royce, told Mint.

“He tapped on my shoulder and said, ‘Sashi, I’ve seen what you did with BP. Can you help me do the same thing with Rolls-Royce?’”That relationship-driven strategy now sits at the centre of Rolls-Royce’s ambitions to make India its fourth home market after the UK, Germany and the US.Erginbilgic was part of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s delegation during his India visit in October 2025.

He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi again in February, when he reportedly indicated the company’s intention to invest up to $10 billion in India.The opportunity spans India’s proposed fifth-generation fighter jet programme, a rapidly expanding civil aviation market and New Delhi’s renewed push into nuclear energy. For Rolls-Royce, the effort marks a shift from simply supplying engines to embedding itself deeper into India’s industrial ecosystem through technology partnerships, localization and long-term manufacturing