The Cabinet Committee on Security approved the procurement of 56 C-295 medium transport aircrafts for the Indian Air Force to replace its ageing Avro planes which were first inducted around 60 years ago.

As many as 16 aircrafts will be delivered in a flyaway condition by the Airbus Defence and Space of Spain within 48 months of signing the contract while the remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India.

Key points:

• This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. 

• The project will give a boost to the aerospace ecosystem in India wherein several MSMEs spread over the country will be involved in manufacturing of parts of the aircraft.

• As many as 40 planes will be manufactured in India by a consortium of the Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) within 10 years of signing the contract. 

• The C-295MW aircraft is a transport plane of 5-10 tonne capacity. 

• All 56 aircraft will be installed with indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite. 

• A large number of detail parts, sub-assemblies and major component assemblies of aero structure are scheduled to be manufactured in India. 

• The programme will act as a catalyst in employment generation in the aerospace ecosystem of the country and 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 of India. 

• During the process of manufacturing in India, it is expected that all the suppliers of TATA Consortium who will be involved in special processes will gain and maintain globally recognised National Aerospace and Defence Contractors Accreditation Program (NADCAP) accreditation. 

• The project will augment domestic aviation manufacturing resulting in reduced import dependence and expected increase in exports.

• Before completion of the deliveries, a servicing facility for C-295MW aircraft is scheduled to be set up in India.

• It is expected that this facility will act as a regional MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) hub for various variants of C-295 aircraft.

• In addition, the OEM (original equipment maker) will also discharge its offset obligations through direct purchase of eligible products and services from Indian offset partners giving a further boost to the economy.

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