New Delhi: Brazilian aviation major Embraer, which is eyeing a multi-billion dollar contract from the Indian Air Force for its medium transport aircraft project, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hindalco Industries to conduct exploratory activities to assess potential business opportunities in India.
Hindalco and Embraer together aim to identify possibilities in aerospace-grade aluminium raw material manufacturing to support Embraer’s industrial initiatives, while strengthening the company’s commitment to the Make-in-India ambition.
This comes just weeks after the Brazilian aviation major entered into a strategic agreement with India’s leading defence major Adani Defence to manufacture aircraft in India.
Under the agreement, Embraer and Adani plan to establish an aircraft assembly line in India and collaborate across multiple segments of the aeronautical value chain. The partnership will not only cover aircraft manufacturing, but also initiatives related to pilot training, maintenance, and the development of technical and engineering skills linked to the aviation sector.
The IAF is firming up plans to revamp its airlift capabilities with a medium transport aircraft (MTA) that will be assembled in India and serve as its main workhorse.
The new aircraft is expected to fill the critical gap between the ageing Soviet-era Antonov AN-32s and the larger Ilyushin IL-76s and will herald a new era in India’s military transport fleet.
The IAF, in December 2022, issued a request for information (RFI) to foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for an aircraft with a load capacity of 18-27 tonnes.
The load capacity specification in the RFI meant Lockheed Martin’s C-130J Hercules met the minimum requirement, with its airlift capacity of about 20 tonnes. KC-390 by Embraer met the upper requirement, with its load carrying capacity logged at 26 tonnes. The Airbus alternative (A400M) goes beyond the specified requirement with its capacity of 37 tonnes.
It is learnt that IAF had sent another RFI last year with a ceiling limit of 30 tonnes.
Speaking on the MoU with Hindalco, Roberto Chaves, Executive Vice President of Global Procurement and Supply Chain at Embraer, said “This joint action reinforces our focus to identifying local partners that can become our suppliers and, in doing so, accelerate the development of the Indian industrial base.”
The signing of the MoU comes at a time when Embraer is steadily expanding its presence in India by setting up an office and hiring across segments.
During the period, Embraer assessed a broad spectrum of industrial capabilities from aerostructure assembly, machining to hardware and software development, the company said adding that India represents a strategic market for them across all its business units.
Embraer currently has a fleet of 47 aircraft operating in the country, serving customers in Commercial Aviation, Executive Aviation, and Defence and Security. This includes five Embraer VIP jets operated by the Indian government and three EMB 145 AEW “Netra” aircraft operated by the IAF.
(Edited by Vidhi Bhutra)
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