The Tata-Airbus aircraft facility set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez in Vadodara on Monday is expected to roll out the first Made in India C-295 transport plane by September 2026 and complete delivery of all 40 of them by August 2031.
India had signed a contract with Airbus in 2021 to buy 56 C-295 transport aircraft of which 16 were to be directly sent from Spain while 40 had to be manufactured in India at Tata facility in Vadodara.
Official sources on Sunday informed that the plant is set to get orders for 12 more of the 15 aircraft that are going to be used by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard for surveillance requirements.
The Defence Acquisition Council has cleared a proposal to buy 15 C-295 planes of which three will come in fly-away condition from Spain.
Ministry of Defence in September 2021 signed the Rs 21,935-crore contract under which the first aircraft was delivered in September 2023.
"As of date, IAF has already inducted 6 x C295 ac in its 11 Squadron based at Vadodara. The last of the 16 flyaway aircraft will be delivered by August 2025," sources said.
"Of 40 aircraft to be made in India, first C-295 will roll out of the Vadodara facility in September 2026 and the remaining 39 by August 2031. Along with the aircraft, a Full Mission Simulator has also been installed at IAF's Agra station," the official sources said.
They said that other than the aero engine and avionics, which are sourced by Airbus from other equipment manufacturers, the other structural parts will mostly be made in India.
"Of 14000 detailed parts used in one aircraft, 13,000 would be made in India from raw material. A total of 37 companies have already been identified by Airbus, of these 33 are medium and small enterprises," they said.
The sources said that the value addition by TASL will gradually increase indigenous content from 48 per cent in the first 16 aircraft to 75 per cent in the last 24 aircraft.
"All 56 aircraft will be equipped with an Electronic Warfare Suite that will be indigenously manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)," they said.
On the employment generation by the project, the sources said that the number of man-hours that Airbus employs to manufacture an aircraft in Spain, will be gradually transferred to India.
"Initially it will be 78% for first 5 aircraft, which will increase to 96% for remaining 35 aircraft. 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," they said.
Commenting on the programme, Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor (Retired) said that best part of the project is creation of an aircraft manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
"37 industrial partners have been shortlisted by Airbus to support their program in Baroda...It is envisaged that by 2030 the indigenous component will increase to 78%...The increase in the Indigenous component will help the Air Force improve in a way as we will not be dependent on OEM or any other agency to provide us with service or space for that matter," he said.
