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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday that the new Airbus C295 plant in Vadodara–India’s first private facility to make military aircraft–was an example of “new India,” and that the project would be a “catalyst” to enhance the nation’s defence ecosystem.
According to the deal inked in 2021, India will buy 56 aircraft from Spain for Rs 21,935 crore. Sixteen C295 transport planes will be delivered in a fly-away condition, while the other 40 will be made in the Gujarat plant set up by Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) in partnership with Airbus Spain.
Inaugurating the facility with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez, Modi said: “The defence manufacturing ecosystem in India is touching new heights. If we had not taken concrete steps 10 years ago, it would have been impossible to reach this destination today. At that time, no one could have even imagined that defence manufacturing could take place on such a large scale in India.”
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The Prime Minister added: “At that time, both the priority and identity were of import. But we decided to walk on a new path, set new goals for ourselves… India’s defence export has increased 30 times in the last 10 years. Today, we are exporting defence equipment to more than 100 countries in the world.”
The Spanish Prime Minister arrived in India for an official visit in the early hours of Monday. Sánchez’s visit is the first by a Spanish leader in 18 years.
The first aircraft in the deal was delivered to India in September 2023, with a total of six handed till date. The rest will come by August 2025 as per the agreement.
Made-in-India planes by 2031
The first plane built in India will be out in 2026, while the whole fleet is expected to be delivered by 2031. The first 16 of these will have 48 percent indigenous components, and the remaining 75 percent.
Modi said at the inauguration that the Airbus factory would “create thousands of jobs in India”. “Due to this project, indigenous manufacturing of 18,000 parts of the aircraft will take place. One part will be manufactured in one part of the country, another in another part of the country… and, who will make these parts? Our micro and small enterprises are going to do this work; our MSMEs will lead this work,” he said.
The Spanish Prime Minister was all praise for Modi’s “vision” to turn India into an “industrial powerhouse” and a “magnet for investment and business to business to collaboration”.
“Airbus opens a new chapter, partnering with India’s defence and space industry. This project strengthens our industrial ties, while underlying our country’s deep commitment as a reliable and a strategic partner. It shows as well the capabilities of the Spanish defence industry–with its world class expertise,” Sánchez said.
He is in India for a two-day visit starting in Vadodara, where he also held bilateral talks with Modi, before being welcomed with a roadshow through the city. Sánchez will be in Mumbai Tuesday to meet with Indian businesses, before leaving for Spain later in the day.
Sánchez has promised that Spain would “fulfil its commitments to technology transfer” as it is “essential” for the creation of an “authentic” ecosystem in this sector in India.
Spanish company Navantia is one of the two companies that are competing to build submarines for the Indian Navy’s P75I project. Six conventional diesel-electric submarines will be built with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems.
Navantia has tied up with Larsen & Toubro for the project. The other company bidding is Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). Just two days before Sánchez’s visit, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz was in the country for the seventh intergovernmental consultations with India.
During talks between Modi and Scholz, a reference to the submarine deal was made, but no decision on the winning bid has been made till date.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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