New Delhi: European major Airbus Friday announced that it is partnering with the Tata Group to establish a final assembly line (FAL) for helicopters in India. The announcement coincided with French President Emmanuel Macron’s two-day state visit during which he also attended this year’s Republic Day Parade at Kartavya Path as the chief guest.
The two companies will jointly manufacture Airbus’s ‘best-selling’ H125 helicopter from its civil range for India and export to some of the neighbouring countries, Airbus said in a statement.
Once operational, this will be India’s first manufacturing line for helicopters in the private sector. All helicopters in India are either imported or manufactured by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
Under this partnership, Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), a subsidiary of the Tata Group, will set up the facility along with Airbus Helicopters.
“The FAL in India will undertake the integration of the major component assemblies, avionics and mission systems, installation of electrical harnesses, hydraulic circuits, flight controls, dynamic components, fuel system and the engine. It will also do testing, qualification, and delivery of the H125 to customers in India and the region,” said Airbus.
The statement added that it will take at least 24 months for the final assembly line to be set up and that deliveries of the “first ‘Made in India’ H125s” are expected to commence in 2026.
Final location of the assembly line, it said, will be “jointly decided by Airbus and the Tata Group”.
The proposed assembly line will be the second such facility to be set up in India by Airbus. As ThePrint reported earlier, Airbus and Tata Group signed a Rs 21,935-crore deal in 2022 to jointly manufacture 40 C-295 transport aircraft at a facility in Gujarat’s Vadodara.
On the proposed facility for helicopters, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said: “Helicopters are crucial for nation building. A ‘Made-in-India’ civil helicopter will not only be a symbol of the confident New India but will also unlock the true potential of the helicopter market in the country.”
Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, added, “The Tata Group is delighted to set up India’s first helicopter assembly facility in the private sector. This facility will have the final assembly line in partnership with Airbus for the world’s bestselling Airbus H125 single engine helicopter for the Indian as well as export markets.”
According to the statement by Airbus, the H125 is the “only helicopter to have landed on Mount Everest, demonstrating its agility in operating in high altitude, extreme environments”.
“This high-performing versatile helicopter is a member of Airbus’ Ecureuil family, which has accumulated more than 38 million flight hours worldwide,” the company said. It added that the H125 can “operate in high-and-hot and extreme environments and can be easily reconfigured for various missions, including aerial work, firefighting, law enforcement, rescue, air ambulance, passenger transport, and many others”.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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