After India signed a large order of aircraft in one go, it still wants to learn
2024-08-14
172 CommentsRecently, it was reported that India has decided to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to purchase a large number of foreign passenger aircraft.
This is a decisive news for Airbus and Boeing.
Because the Indian market is indeed very large, if the Indian government is willing to buy a large number of passenger aircraft from them, Boeing and Airbus can make a lot of money.
However, India has put forward a condition that Boeing and Airbus simply cannot accept: that is, they hope that Airbus and Boeing can build production lines in India.
Of course, both companies have chosen to refuse India's request.
So what is going on? It is clear that India has placed a huge order to please Boeing and Airbus, why are they still unwilling to build an industrial line in India?
1. India has its own ideas
India wants to ask Airbus and Boeing to build production lines in their own country, mainly because of the previous lessons from China.China has also been purchasing aircraft from Airbus and Boeing for a long time, and over time, Airbus and Boeing have even proactively chosen to establish industrial lines in China.
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As early as 2016, their aircraft manufacturing production lines were established in China.
Therefore, India believes that by providing orders to Airbus and Boeing, they could exchange for production lines from these companies.
However, India may have overestimated itself. Airbus and Boeing have a very deep understanding of what India truly intends to do.
India essentially wants to introduce the production lines of Airbus and Boeing, conduct reverse engineering studies on the designs and production of their companies, and lay a technical foundation for developing domestic civil aircraft in India.
Led by the Tata Group, some large commercial conglomerates in India have also been keen to get a share of the civil aviation sector.
Thus, India has been working on its own domestic civil aircraft, but due to technological limitations, the development of their domestic aircraft has been relatively slow, and it is far from being on par with world-class standards.
Therefore, India has considered the strategy of introducing foreign production lines to use foreign technology to promote the development of large domestic aircraft.There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but it can severely damage the interests of Boeing and Airbus.
From their perspective, they would rather not accept orders from India than transfer technology to the country.
Moreover, even if they do not agree to India's demands, India would still choose to purchase their aircraft.
This is because India is a vast country that is currently further improving its domestic transportation network, and the importance of the air transport system is self-evident.
India itself does not have the capability to manufacture a large number of civilian aircraft, so they can only opt to cooperate with Airbus and Boeing, purchasing their aircraft.
Airbus and Boeing dare to refuse India's demands because they have grasped India's Achilles' heel; they know India has no room for refusal.
So, why were Airbus and Boeing willing to establish production lines in China back then? Were they not afraid of China conducting reverse engineering on their aircraft?
In fact, they were not afraid, because the situation in China is completely different from that in India.II. Airbus and Boeing Cannot Halt China's Progress
For the foreign companies Airbus and Boeing, it is not that they do not wish to impede the development of China's indigenous technology. However, no matter what efforts they make, they are futile.
The United States, the world's foremost superpower, has attempted to halt China's scientific advancements by personally imposing economic and technological sanctions on China, yet to no avail. China's science and technology continue to advance at an exceedingly rapid pace.
The development models of China and India differ significantly. India relies heavily on foreign capital and technology during its development, with little to no indigenous technology of its own. In contrast, China, since the very establishment of the People's Republic, has faced internal and external challenges.
Internationally, the United States has been persistently blocking China.Later, after the Sino-Soviet split, China even became a country that was jointly blockaded by the two major camps.
Therefore, China has always followed an independent and self-reliant path.
It is clearer than anyone else that without mastering core technologies and the lifelines of economy and technology, it would be seen as a role that can be manipulated by others in the eyes of the truly powerful nations.
Hence, China's technological development has always had a very strong internal driving force.
Even if Airbus and Boeing do not export aircraft to China, and do not establish production lines in China, it is entirely capable of relying on its own strength to develop domestic civilian technology.
The final outcome has indeed been so, with China's own medium to large regional civilian aircraft already in operation.
In terms of civilian aircraft design and manufacturing capabilities, it has basically reached the same level as Airbus and Boeing.
Now, Airbus and Boeing are thinking about how to ensure the Chinese market and how to deal with the new challenges brought by China's aviation industry.However, India simply does not have the capability to threaten Airbus and Boeing.
If supported by these two companies, India could assemble its own so-called civilian large aircraft from various components, which is achievable.
But if Airbus and Boeing do not provide support to India, nor establish production lines within the country, then the possibility of India's domestic large aircraft program succeeding is essentially non-existent.
This is because India's basic industrial level is really too poor, and both Boeing and Airbus are aware that India does not have the standing to say no to them, which is why they dare to manipulate India in this manner.
This clearly demonstrates that although India has always claimed to have become a world-class power and can be mentioned in the same breath as China, Russia, and the United States.
In reality, when it comes to comprehensive national strength and global influence, the gap between it and the truly great powers is very significant.
Even some large foreign enterprises can completely disregard the opinions of the Indian government and even dare to directly reject various demands from India.
III. India Lacks Business Credibility
The last reason why Airbus and Boeing refuse to transfer production lines to India is that India itself is a country without business credibility.If Airbus and Boeing truly establish production lines in India, the ultimate outcome would be that they cannot take out a single cent of the money they earn in India; it can only be reinvested in the Indian market. It is possible that the aircraft production lines they painstakingly build up could, in the end, be taken by the Indian government and their enterprises through various illicit means and pocketed.
India is not without precedent in such actions; China's Xiaomi Corporation is the biggest victim. Previously, Xiaomi's rival companies in India colluded with the Indian judiciary to continuously attack Xiaomi.
Therefore, despite the vastness of the Indian market, the number of foreign companies genuinely willing to enter and make comprehensive investments in India is not small. Companies from the United States and Europe are also reluctant to go.
Some time ago, India had hoped that Elon Musk could bring Tesla to invest in the Indian market, and Musk's attitude towards this matter was very ambiguous. However, to this day, Musk has not yet invested in the automotive market in India.Especially after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia has been subjected to massive sanctions.
At that time, India withstood the pressure and imported a significant amount of oil from Russia, then resold the oil at a high price to various European countries, thereby reaping huge profits in the process.
However, even in trade, India managed to take advantage of Russia. At that time, Western countries prohibited Russia from using the US dollar.
The Indian government then persuaded Russia to accept Indian rupees.
Russia indeed had limited options at the time, so it allowed India to use a large amount of rupees for commercial settlements.
But in the end, it turned out that these rupees were virtually unspent. There are only a few countries in the world that recognize the Indian rupee.
And the Russian government, holding these rupees, could hardly buy anything from the Indian market.
This is because India is currently a country with a relatively weak manufacturing industry, and its overall industrial level is not even on par with Russia.India can produce everything that Russia can produce, while Russia needs things that India cannot produce.
The end result is that the Indian rupees Russia earns through oil trade all become worthless paper, completely useless.
This forces Russia to spend these funds to buy shells from Indian military factories, but the quality of Indian shells is very poor.
Now even the Russian government has clearly announced that they will no longer accept Indian rupees because it is equivalent to giving India oil for free.
Meanwhile, India has made a lot of euros and dollars by using the oil from Russia in this trade process.
India must have known back then that by doing so, they were taking advantage of Russia, but India still went ahead.
Under such circumstances, how could Airbus and Boeing invest in the Indian market?
If they really invest heavily in India, they will end up with nothing in the end.Conclusion:
In fact, India's disregard for government and national credibility, as well as the lack of commercial credibility among Indian businesses, is extremely detrimental.
This implies that no enterprises from other countries are willing to invest on a large scale in the Indian market.
Without relying on foreign support in terms of technology and funding, it is impossible for India to fully achieve industrialization in the short term.
Because India does not possess such a strong internal driving force.
Instead of contemplating illegal gains from Airbus and Boeing, India would be better off finding ways to develop its domestic economy.
Improving India's business environment is crucial, otherwise, India will only lose more face in the future.