Gujarat has handled an immense new deal – Tata and Airbus will produce transport planes for the military in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state. The cost of the project is a walloping ₹ 22,000 crore, or 2.66 billion dollars.
“This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. The total cost of the project is ₹ 21,935 crore. The aircraft can be used for civilian purposes as well,” said Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar.
The manufacturing plant will be initiated by the PM at Vadodara on Sunday. The new project, with the promise of thousands of jobs, comes similarly as Gujarat prepares to decide in favor of its next government.
In September, Gujarat dominated Maharashtra to get a 19.5-billion-dollar investment that will see chips (semiconductors) being produced by a joint endeavor of Vedanta Ltd and Taiwan’s Foxconn. Their plants will be set up close to Ahmedabad with extensive subsidies on electricity and different incentives gave from the state and is expected to make over 100,000 jobs.
The Tata-Airbus plan is viewed as a significant gain for the PM’s “Make-In-India” campaign to lessen the country’s reliance on purchasing from aboard military technology and equipment.
The Centre last month approved the purchase of 56 transport aircraft from Airbus. “As part of the contract, 16 aircraft will be delivered in flyaway condition and 40 will be manufactured in India,” said the Defence Secretary today. “This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company,” he said.
As indicated by an official statement, the first 16 fly-away or ready-to-operate aircraft are planned to be gotten between September 2023 and August 2025. The first Gujarat-made airplane is expected in September 2026.
The new C-295 transport plane will “replace the ageing Avro aircraft of the Indian Air Force,” the government said. “It has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para dropping of troops and cargo. Short take-off/land from semi-prepared surfaces is another of its features. The aircraft will strengthen the logistic capabilities of the IAF,” the statement said.
