Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez opened the Tata Aircraft Complex at Tata Advanced Systems Limited Vadodara on Monday. The complex will manufacture Airbus’s C-295 military planes for the IAF. Modi termed this factory ” the new India’s work culture” and said this hub can evolve into an export hub.
The Vadodara plant is India’s first final assembly line for C-295 aircraft. It was set up as part of a partnership between Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus Spain. The $2.5 billion contract was signed in 2021, making India take a successful leap toward defense manufacturing.
This is the right scheme and partnership. I am sure in times to come, such planes manufactured here will plow their way in skies of other countries also,” Modi said at the inauguration. He pointed out that the plant “will provide gainful employment to thousands of people,” adding that around 18,000 components of the aircraft will be manufactured in the country, mainly by different MSMEs. Only the engines, the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprop engines, will be imported.
Under the C-295 program, India intends to buy 56 aircraft-16 flying direct from Airbus in Spain and 40 assembled in the Vadodara facility. This is intended to replace the IAF’s aging Avro-748 fleet.
Others present during the event were National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Sánchez reportedly said the Airbus-Tata alliance would make the Indian aerospace sector more attractive and open the doors to more European companies.
A team of 200 engineers from Tata is already in Spain as part of a training program aimed at manufacturing the aircraft. The IAF has inducted six C-295 aircraft into its Vadodara-based 11 Squadron. These aircraft can carry up to nine tonnes of payload or accommodate 71 troops at a maximum cruise speed of 260 knots.
Earlier, Modi had interacted with Sánchez on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in 2018 and Rome in 2021, apart from a call on February 15, 2023.
The visit by Sánchez represents the first by a Spanish Prime Minister to India in 18 years. The last high-profile visit was from King Juan Carlos I back in 2012. Spain is the 16th largest investor in India, with a cumulative FDI of USD 4.2 billion from April 2000 to June 2024. More than 230 Spanish companies operate in India, while close to 80 Indian firms are active in Spain.
The trade between both countries was $9.9 billion in 2023, while India’s exports were valued at $7.17 billion and imports at $2.74 billion. Sánchez is set to travel to Mumbai before returning to Spain after the inauguration.
