Bengaluru : The country head of Saab India Technologies Ola Rignell said on Thursday Bengaluru will be the “backbone” for the Grippen aircraft offering to the Indian Air Force due to the industry set-up here.

Swedish defence major Saab had earlier said it is planning to hold meetings with Indian companies in October to develop ecosystem in the country for manufacturing multi-role fighter aircraft.

Saab is in the fray for a contract to supply 114fighter planes to India under the Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft(MRFA) programme. The Indian Air Force in April 2018 issued an initial tender or Request for Information (RFI) for the billion-dollar procurement deal.

Saab responded to the initial tender in July 2018 with its Grippen E MRFA. Mats Palmberg, VP Industrial Partnerships and Head of Grippen India Campaign, told PTI earlier that the company has undertaken surveys for aerostructures parts, such as sub-assemblies, machined parts and sheet metal parts.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Rignell said: “What we have seen so far is that here in India, there are a lot of companies which are competitive, that we can utilise in the fighter programme for India.”