New Delhi: India is fast-tracking plans to acquire at least 12 more Made-in-India C-295MW transport aircraft with 78 per cent indigenous components, the final assembly line for which is to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez in Gujarat’s Vadodara Monday.
The inauguration will mark a red-letter day for India’s defence ecosystem since it will be the first instance of a private company rolling out a military aircraft in the country.
The foundation stone of the project was laid by Modi in October, 2022. According to the Rs 21,935-crore deal inked in 2021 for 56 aircraft, 16 are to be delivered in fly-away condition from the Airbus facility in Spain, while the remaining 40 are to be built in India by a consortium led by Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) in partnership with Airbus.
The first of the 16 aircraft was delivered in September 2023. Six aircraft have been delivered and inducted in IAF’s 11 Squadron based at Vadodara to date.
Of the 40 aircraft to be made in India, the first will be rolled out of the Vadodara facility in September 2026 and the remaining 39 by August 2031 while a Full Mission Simulator (FMS) has already been installed at IAF’s Agra station.
“We are fast-tracking the procurement of an additional 15 C-295 aircraft in maritime configuration that has been sanctioned by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). We are in talks with Airbus for having at least 12 of the 15 manufactured in India while 3 may come from Spain. Also, we are looking for higher indigenous content when it comes to these new 12 aircraft,” a government source told ThePrint Sunday.
It is learnt that the first 16 aircraft manufactured in India will have 48 per cent indigenous components while the remaining 24 will have 75 per cent indigenous components. India is seeking 78 per cent for the additional aircraft, the order for which is yet to be placed.
All of the 56 aircraft, including the ones from Spain, are equipped with the Electronic Warfare Suite indigenously manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).
Government sources said 13,000 detailed parts of the total 14,000 fitted in the aircraft will eventually be built in India, besides sub-assemblies. Major component assemblies of the aerostructure, to be done at the TATA facility in Hyderabad, will include nose fuselage, centre fuselage, centre wing box, wings and empennage.
The man hours Airbus employs to manufacture an aircraft in Spain will be gradually transferred to India, sources said, adding that according to the plan, 78 per cent for the first 5 and 96 per cent for remaining 35 aircraft. The project, it is learnt, is expected to generate 600 highly-skilled direct jobs, 3,000 indirect jobs and 3,000 medium-skill employment opportunities. “A total of 42.5 lakh man-hours of work will be created within the aerospace and defence sector,” said the government source quoted earlier.
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