India offers low-cost manufacturing opportunities with high output: Modi
The Prime Minister lays the groundwork for a C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing facility in Vadodara.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, war, and supply-chain disruptions, India's growth momentum has been maintained, and India is presenting opportunities for low-cost manufacturing and high output, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday after laying the foundation stone for the C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing facility to be established in Vadodara by a consortium of Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus Defence and Space.
The event takes place just before the announcement of the Gujarat Assembly election schedule.
"The defence and aerospace sectors will be two important pillars in making India aatmanirbhar in the coming years" (self-reliant). By 2025, we hope to have spent more than $25 billion on defence manufacturing. Furthermore, our defence exports would exceed $5 billion," Mr. Modi said at the event, which drew a large crowd.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a deal with Airbus Defence and Space, Spain, in September 2021 to purchase 56 C-295MW aircraft for Rs. 21,935 crore. This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India through private-sector technology transfer.
The Prime Minister described the C-295 project as a significant step toward making India the world's manufacturing hub. Mr. Modi stated that while India manufactures fighter jets, tanks, submarines, medicines, vaccines, electronic gadgets, mobile phones, and cars that are popular in many countries, the country is now becoming a major manufacturer of transport aircraft. "India is pursuing the mantra 'Make in India, Make for the World.' Today, our policies are stable, predictable, and forward-looking," Mr. Modi stated.
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He emphasised the increased demand for passenger and cargo aircraft in this regard. According to the Prime Minister, India will require more than 2,000 aircraft over the next 15 years. "We are about to become one of the top three countries in the world in terms of air traffic," he added.
"With the establishment 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 them into an Airbus C295 aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF)," said N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, at the event.
Between September 2023 and August 2025, 16 of the 56 aircraft will be ready to fly. The first of 40 'Made in India' aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in September 2026, with the remainder completed by 2031 at a rate of eight aircraft per year.
Guillaume Faury, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus, stated that their teams are committed to supporting the IAF's modernization with the C295 programme, which will also contribute to the development of the country's private defence manufacturing sector.
The C-295 will replace the IAF's Avro transport planes, which were purchased in the 1960s and are in desperate need of replacement. The RFP was distributed to global firms in May 2013, and the sole bid by Airbus and TASL with the C-295 aircraft was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in May 2015.
The C295 is a five-to-ten-tonne aircraft used for tactical transport of up to 71 passengers or 50 paratroopers, as well as logistic operations to locations inaccessible to current heavier aircraft. It has a proven capability of operating from short or unprepared airstrips.
The C295 has more than 500,000 flight hours with 285 aircraft ordered and 38 operators in 34 countries. India will become the 35th C295 operator in the world.
Airbus became the first foreign original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to receive Quality Management System approval from the Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA), the Indian regulator of aeronautical quality assurance, at the DefExpo in Gandhinagar last week for the C-295 India aircraft programme.
Sanjay Chawla, Director General of DGAQA, presented the certificate of approval to Kajetan von Mentzingen, Head of Quality, Airbus Defence and Space, at a ceremony held on the sidelines of DefExpo 2022 in Gandhinagar. This is an important first step in the comprehensive quality assurance roadmap agreed upon by Airbus and DGAQA for the C295 'Make in India' programme.
According to TASL officials, this certification is part of the industrial development programme, which includes the full development of a complete industrial ecosystem: from the production of detailed parts to assembly, test, and qualification, to delivery and maintenance of the aircraft's entire lifecycle.
Electronic warfare suites for the 56 aircraft will be supplied by defence public sector units such as Bharat Electronics Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited.
The C295 has a proven capability of operating from short or unprepared airstrips, and it 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.
According to Aibus officials, this contract will support the further development of India's aerospace ecosystem by bringing investment and 15,000 skilled direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs over the next ten years.
The IAF becomes the 35th C295 operator in the world, with the programme totaling 278 aircraft, 200 of which are already in service and have logged more than 500,000 flight hours.
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