A push for ‘Make in India’ aerospace program in the private sector. Under the deal, 16 aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by Airbus Defence and Space within 48 months of signing the contract. The remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India by a consortium of Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems within 10 years of the contract

The government’s move to acquire 56 Airbus C-295 aircraft to replace the Indian Air Force (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet “is a bold step”, according to Ratan Tata.

On Friday, in a joint statement, Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus announced that the Defence Ministry had cleared the joint project to build the 56 C-295 aircraft in India.

Tata said, “it is a great step forward in the opening up of aviation and avionics projects in India,” and “this bold step in fully building this state-of-the-art multi-role aircraft in India in support of the ‘Make in India’ thrust to bolster the country’s equity framework.”
This is the first ‘Make in India’ aerospace program in the private sector, involving the full development of a complete industrial ecosystem: from the manufacture to assembly, test and qualification, to delivery and maintenance of the complete lifecycle of the aircraft.

Under the contractual 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 the Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies.

Ratan Tata further said the clearance for the said project “envisages total manufacturing of the aircraft in India. it will create a domestic supply chain capability to international standards, which has never been undertaken before.”

The said project aims to generate 15,000 skilled direct jobs, and 10,000 indirect positions over the coming 10 years.