Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Rata Tata said the clearance of the joint project between Airbus Defence and Tata Advanced Systems for indigenous manufacturing of transport aircraft C-295 was a "bold step". The chairman emeritus said it would facilitate creating a domestic supply chain of international standards.
"The clearance of the joint project between Airbus Defence and Tata Advanced Systems to build the C-295 is a great step forward in the opening up of aviation and avionics projects in India," said the Tata Sons Chairman.
The aircraft deal
The defence ministry on Friday signed a contract with Airbus Defence and Space to procure 56 C-295 aircraft. Under the terms of the agreement, Airbus would deliver 16 aircraft in fly-away condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain. The pending 40 aircraft would be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies.
"The first 16 aircraft will be delivered over four years after the contract implementation. All the IAF C295s will be handed over in transport configuration and equipped with an indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite," Airbus stated in its press release.
The Cabinet Committee cleared the long-pending procurement of C-295, two weeks back. This would be the first of its kind project wherein a military aircraft would by manufactured in India by a private company.
