PM Modi lays foundation stone of facility to produce C-295 transport aircraft

Vadodara: Ahead of the impending Gujarat Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing plant—a project of almost Rs. 22,000 crore — in Vadodara on Sunday. PM Modi called it a 'major move' and said India is going to become a major producer of transport aircraft and that he could see the day when big commercial planes would be made in the country.

"Make in India, make for globe," the Prime Minister said. He also stressed that it is the first time such a huge investment is going to be made in defence aerospace. At the same time, without mentioning the name of Congress, he took a dig on the erstwhile government at the centre and said, "For a longtime, the ruling government had a mindset that the concerned persons in the system know everything and hence, never gave private manufacturing companies to work. It resulted in poor co-ordination between private and public sectors."

PM Modi also mentioned, "There was also a mindset that India cannot manufacture. It should only concentrate on the service part. However, our government has brought various friendly schemes, which pushed the manufacturing sector."

He further claimed that the erstwhile ruling government felt that India does not have skilled manpower, however, today, the country manufactures semiconductors for aircraft.

The C-295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force will be manufactured by Tata-Airbus. Apart from making 40 aircraft, this facility at Vadodara would be manufacturing additional aircraft for Air Force requirements and exports.

While addressing the event PM Modi also said, "The transport aircraft not only give power to our Army but also develop a new ecosystem of manufacturing. Soon, India will witness the passenger aircraft that will be made with the tag of 'Make In India'."

He further said, "In the coming years, the defence and aerospace sectors will be two important pillars for making India 'Atmanirbhar' (Self- reliance) by 2025, our defence manufacturing scale would cross $25 billion. Defence corridors being established in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu would power this scale"

The manufacturing unit will also cater for the export of the premier transport aircraft as well as for additional orders by the Indian Air Force.

In September last year, Indian government fixed a Rs. 21,935 crore deal with Airbus Defence and Space to procure 56 C-295 aircraft to replace the IAF's ageing Avro-748 planes that entered service in the early 1960s.

Under the deal, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in 'fly-away' condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain within four years and the subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies. The first Made-in-India aircraft will be rolled out of the manufacturing facility in September 2026 and the remaining 39 will have to be produced by August 2031.

The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh claimed that the project is expected to generate 600 highly skilled jobs directly, over 3,000 indirect jobs and an additional 3,000 medium-skill employment opportunities with more than 42.5 lakh man-hours of work within the aerospace and defence sector.

The C-295MW is a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity with contemporary technology. It can carry 71 troops or 50 paratroops. The aircraft has a maximum speed of 480 kmph. The aircraft is capable of performing special missions as well as disaster response and maritime patrol duties. The aircraft can airdrop paratroops and loads, and also be used for casualty or medical evacuation.

Speaking at the occasion N Chandrasekharan, Chairman of Tata Sons said, "This will be the first time in the Indian private sector that an aircraft will be manufactured in-country, from parts to final assembly. The programme will lead to the development of a strong private industrial aerospace ecosystem in India and will create more than 15,000 skilled direct and indirect jobs across the aerospace ecosystem, and over 125 suppliers qualified on global quality standards across India."

Whereas, Airbus claimed that IAF became the 35th C-295 operator worldwide. To date, the programme counts 285 orders, with more than 200 aircraft delivered, 38 operators from 34 countries as well as 27 orders repeated.

The transport aircraft also has a capacity for logistic operations to locations that are not accessible to current heavier aircraft.