Thales appoints Ankur Kanaglekar as Vice-President India

MUMBAI: Ankur Kanaglekar the new Thales Vice President for India with effect from Sept 10will lead Thales’s development in the country, across wide-ranging sectors from Aerospace and Defence to Cyber & Digital,” the company said in a press statement issued on Wednesday.

“In his role, Ankur will oversee Thales’ strategy and operations in India, focusing on scaling up industrial collaboration, reinforcing local innovation and engineering capabilities, and delivering advanced solutions across defence, aerospace, and cyber and digital markets,” it said.

“With over 25 years of experience in the aerospace and defence industry and consulting, Ankur brings a wealth of expertise in driving strategic growth, fostering partnerships, and leading high-stakes initiatives, the statement said, adding that prior to joining Thales, Ankur Kanaglekar spent 14 years at Boeing in India, most recently as Executive Director, where he spearheaded global co-development and co-production initiatives for defence platforms, led large sales campaigns, and shaped several strategic growth initiatives. "His leadership in forging partnerships with Indian public and private sector organisations, supporting the Make in India initiative, has been instrumental in advancing defence localisation. Earlier, as an Engagement Manager at PRTM Management Consulting (now part of PwC), he advised Fortune 500 clients on mergers, acquisitions, operations, and go-to-market strategies in aerospace, automotive, and industrial sectors,” the statement said.

Pascale Sourisse, President & CEO Thales International said: “I am pleased to welcome Ankur Kanaglekar to Thales. With his proven leadership and deep understanding of the Indian market, we aim to further enhance our support of the country’s ambitious self-reliance objectives, co-develop cutting-edge solutions, and nurture local talent. We remain deeply committed to the Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision and to fostering enduring partnerships across the ecosystem.”

Ankur Kanaglekar, Vice-President, India, Thales said: “India is at the heart of Thales’ global strategy, and I am truly honoured to have this opportunity to lead our operations at such a pivotal time. I look forward to working closely with our partners, teams, and other stakeholders to accelerate growth, deepen localisation, and make a meaningful contribution to nation building, supporting India’s technological ambitions and self- reliance journey.” Kanaglekar holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pune University, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, USA, and a Master of Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

French multinational aerospace and defence corporation Thales Group specialises in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. According to the Group, it invests more than €4 billion per year in Research & Development in key areas, particularly for critical environments, such as Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum and cloud technologies.

Headquartered in Noida, Thales has other operational offices and sites spread across Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Mumbai, among others. The company said along with its joint ventures it employs over 2200 in India. Thales has two engineering competence centres in India - one in Noida focused on Cyber & Digital business, while the one in Bengaluru focuses on hardware, software and systems engineering capabilities for both the civil and defence sectors, serving global needs. The Group has also established an MRO facility in Gurugram to provide avionics maintenance and repair services to Indian airlines.