Tata lauds 'Make in India' thrust as nation seals military aircraft deal with Airbus

Chairman of the Tata Trusts Ratan Tata has hailed the finalisation of India’s contract to procure 56 C-295 transport aircraft under the Airbus-Tata project.

Tata described it as a “great step” forward in opening up the aviation and avionics sector in the country. The comment came hours after the deal to procure the aircraft to replace Avro-748 planes of the Indian Air Force was sealed.

Under the agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in fly-away condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain. The subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies.

It will be the first time when military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company.

“The clearance of the joint project between Airbus Defence and Tata Advanced Systems to build the C-295 is a great step forward in the opening up of the aviation and avionics projects in India,” Tata said in a statement on Twitter.

Tata said the C-295 is a multi-role aircraft with several configurations to meet mission requirements. “It envisages total manufacturing of the aircraft in India,” he added.

He also congratulated Airbus Defence, Tata Advanced Systems, and the Defence Ministry on the inking of the contract.

“It will create a domestic supply chain capability to international standards, which has never been undertaken before. The Tata Group congratulates Airbus and the Indian Defence Ministry for this bold step in fully building this state-of-the-art multi-role aircraft in India in support the Make-in-India thrust to bolster the country’s equity framework,” Tata said.

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The contract was signed two weeks after it was cleared by the Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security.

Airbus said that the first 16 aircraft will be delivered over four years after the implementation of the contract and that all the planes will be equipped with an indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite.

“This contract will further support the development of India’s aerospace ecosystem, bringing investment, and 15,000 skilled direct jobs and 10,000 indirect positions over the coming 10 years,” said Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space.

(With inputs from Agencies)