Frankfurt, August 23, 2006 (Reuters)

European aerospace and defence group EADS will invest 2 billion euros ($2.57 billion) over the next 15 years in India in production as well as research and development facilities, Financial Times Deutschland reported.

The group, currently represented there only by an Airbus branch office, plans cooperation between its Eurocopter subsidiary and India's HAL to develop a new army helicopter.

The project is expected to be announced next week during a visit to India by German economics minister Michael Glos, the paper wrote without citing sources.