New Delhi: The Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh finalised a nearly Rs. 20,000 crore deal with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain to procure 56 ‘C-295’ medium transport aircraft which will replace the ageing Avro-748 planes of the Indian Air Force.
This is the first project where a private company in India will manufacture the aircraft, official said.
Within 48 months of signing the contract, 16 aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by the Airbus Defence and Space of Spain says the deal.
The remaining 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, officials said.
Indian Industrialist Ratan Tata has congratulated the Airbus defence, “
Congratulations to Airbus Defence, Tata Advanced Systems Limited and the Indian Defence Ministry @tataadvanced@indiandefence@AirbusDefence@TataCompani,” his tweet said.
Ratan Tata said that the joint project between Airbus and Tata Advance to build the aircraft is a ‘great step’ forward in the opening up of the aviation and avionics projects in India.
“It will create a domestic supply chain capability to international standards, which has never been undertaken before. The Tata Group congratulates Airbus and the Indian Defence Ministry for this bold step in fully building this state-of-the-art multi-role aircraft in India in support of the Make-in-India thrust to bolster the country’s equity framework,” Ratan Tata said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Security had given clearance to the project and after two weeks the contract was signed.
“Contract signed between #MinistryOfDefence and @AirbusDefence &Space, Spain for procurement of 56 C-295 transport aircraft for the #IAF,” Defence Ministry Spokesperson A Bharat Bhushan Babu tweeted.
Airbus C-295 MW aircraft is a transport plane of 5-10 tonne capacity.
“All 56 aircraft will be installed with indigenous electronic warfare suite,” the ministry had said on September 8 after the procurement was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security.
The Airbus C-255 MW aircraft is a transport aircraft with a capacity of 5-10 tons.
“All five aircraft will be installed with domestic electronic warfare suits,” the ministry said in September after the purchase was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security.
The policy approval of the Avro replacement program was given about nine years ago.
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