As part of the civil aero and defence engine major Rolls-Royce's effort to foray into the passenger aircraft market, the company is bidding to supply its latest Trent 800 engines for the Boeing 777, which is currently under consideration by Air-India.

According to Tim Jones, managing director, Rolls-Royce India Ltd, the offer to Air-India was made a week ago and is currently pending with the department of civil aviation.

"These engines reduce the total weight of the plane by five tonnes and contributes to the low-risk solution," Jones said.

At present, about 44 per cent of the Boeing 777 market -- with about 12 customers including Singapore Airlines, American Airlines and Emirates -- are being powered by the Trent 800 engines.

"There are already over 400 units of these engines in service," Jones said.

Currently, about 1,000 Rolls-Royce engines, many of which are made in India under license, are in service in the country.

"The selection of the Adour-powered Hawk trainer for the Advance Jet Trainer programme, will present an ideal opportunity to strengthen the Rolls-Royce relationship with HAL," he said.

Meanwhile, estimating the value of the recently signed deal with the Indian Navy for deploying Syncrolift, a ship lifting system at the Karwar naval base, Jones said that the deal is worth $30 million.

"In turn, we are investing back $20 million for outsourcing components from Indian manufacturers for the same project. The ship lifting system will be fully functional by 2006," Jones added.