– 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.
– Ankur will lead Thales’s development in India, across wide-ranging sectors from Aerospace and Defence to Cyber & Digital, reinforcing the company’s commitment to nation building and the Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision.
New Delhi, India, September 2025 – Thales announced the appointment of Ankur Kanaglekar as Vice President for India, with effect from 10 September 2025. This strategic appointment underlines Thales’ commitment to expanding its footprint, strengthening local partnerships and accelerating innovation in support of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision.
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.
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. 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.
“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,” said Pascale Sourisse, President & CEO, Thales International.
“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,” said Ankur Kanaglekar, Vice-President, India, Thales.
Ankur 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.
About Thales
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. Its portfolio of innovative products and services addresses several major challenges: sovereignty, security, sustainability and inclusion.
The Group 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.
Thales has more than 83,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2024, the Group generated sales of €20.6 billion.
About Thales in India
Present in India since 1953, Thales is headquartered in Noida and has other operational offices and sites spread across Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru and Mumbai, among others. Over 2200 employees are working with Thales and its joint ventures in India. Since the beginning, Thales has been playing an essential role in India’s growth story by sharing its technologies and expertise in Defence, Aerospace and Cyber & Digital sectors.
Thales has two engineering competence centres in India – one in Noida focused on Cyber & Digital, 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 comprehensive avionics maintenance and repair services to Indian airlines.
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