Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the groundwork for the C-295 aircraft manufacturing plant in Vadodara, Gujarat. Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems Limited’s joint venture will manufacture 40 C-295 military transport planes at the facility as part of a Rs 22,000 crore deal to supply 56 such planes. Airbus will supply the Rest 16 planes directly from Spain.
While laying the groundwork for the assembly plant, PM Modi stated that the aircraft manufacturing facility in Vadodara represents India’s giant leap toward aviation self-sufficiency. He stated that India will be a major hub for large aircraft maintenance, both passenger and cargo planes.
He said, “The transport aircraft that’ll be manufactured here will not only give power to our Army but also develop a new ecosystem of manufacturing aircraft… Soon, India will witness the passenger aircraft that will be made with the tag of ‘Make In India'”.
The aircraft built in India would be delivered between September 2023 and August 2025, with the first 16 fly-away aircraft scheduled to be delivered to the IAF between September 2023 and August 2025.
In September of last year, India agreed to pay Airbus Defence and Space Rs. 21,935 crore for 56 C-295 aircraft to replace the IAF’s ageing Avro-748 planes, which entered service in the early 1960s.
Under the terms of the agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain within four years, and the remaining 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled in India by Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) as part of the two companies’ industrial partnership.
With more than 42.5 lakh man-hours of work in the aerospace and defence sector, the project is expected to generate 600 highly skilled jobs directly, over 3,000 indirect jobs, and an additional 3,000 medium-skill employment o
N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons said, “With the set-up of the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Vadodara, the Tata Group will now be able to take aluminium ingots at one end of the value stream and turn it into a Airbus C295 aircraft for the Indian Air Force. This is a historic moment not only for the Tata Group but for the country, as it embraces the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of being truly ‘Atmanirbhar.”
The C295 is used for tactical transport of up to 71 troops or 50 paratroopers, as well as logistic operations to locations inaccessible to current heavier aircraft. It is capable of airdropping paratroops and loads, as well as casualty or medical evacuation. The aircraft can carry out special missions such as disaster response and maritime patrol.
Also Read: Tata and Airbus joins hands to manufacture C-295 transport aircraft for IAF in Gujarat
