- | 5:47 pm
PM Modi, Spanish PM inaugurate TATA Aircraft Complex in Vadodara
The first Indian-made C295 will be rolled out of TATA Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) Campus in September 2026
Hitting a major milestone for India’s aerospace and defense industry, PM Narendra Modi and Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez jointly inaugurated the C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing facility at the TATA Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) Campus in Vadodara, Gujarat.
As the first instance of the private sector setting up an aircraft Final Assembly Line (FAL) in India, this facility will significantly boost the Government of India’s ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) program.
Airbus said in its press release that the first Indian-made C295 will be rolled out of the Vadodara FAL in September 2026, while the remaining 39 aircraft will be handed over to the IAF by August 2031. Tata Advanced Systems Ltd is responsible for making these 40 aircrafts in India. This facility becomes the first private sector Final Assembly Line (FAL) for military aircraft in India.
N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, and Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, attended the inauguration ceremony.
Modi, who laid the foundation stone of this factory in October 2022, said that projects like the Airbus-Tata factory will create thousands of jobs.
He added that the factory will support indigenous manufacturing of 18,000 aircraft parts, providing immense opportunities for MSMEs across India.
He said that India is one of the most significant parts suppliers for the world’s major aircraft companies, and even today, “The new aircraft factory will give a big boost to new skills and new industries in India.”
Under the C-295 program, a total of 56 aircrafts are to be delivered out of which 16 are being deliveredin ‘fly-away’ condition from Airbus’ final assembly line in Seville, Spain. and remaining 40 are to be made in India.
In its press release, Airbus mentioned that six aircraft have already been delivered.
Apart from Tatas, leading public sector defense units such as Bharat Electronics Ltd. and Bharat Dynamics Ltd, as well as private micro, small, and medium enterprises, will contribute to this program.
The inauguration comes three years after the IAF formally acquired 56 Airbus C295 aircraft to replace their legacy AVRO fleet.
Stating that the Tata Group is very proud of setting up this advanced facility, which will manufacture the nation’s first private defense aircraft from the ground up, N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, said, “It will significantly enhance both defence and advance manufacturing capabilities.”
Adding that the inauguration of this final assembly line (FAL) is a significant milestone in India’s journey towards self-reliance in defense manufacturing, Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, said, “The C295 India program demonstrates Airbus’ commitment to supporting India’s vision of ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ in defense manufacturing.
Aligned to this vision, this FAL will propel the advancement of the country’s aerospace industrial ecosystem, unlocking the potential for cutting-edge design, component manufacturing, aircraft assembly, and services capabilities across the Indian value chain,” Schoellhorn added.
The C295 aircraft’s components have already started being produced in the Main Component Assembly (MCA) facility in Hyderabad.
Airbus has already shipped parts for the first C295 aircraft in India to the Vadodara FAL, where the aircraft will be assembled and delivered to the IAF.
Additionally, Airbus India’s engineering and digital centers in Bengaluru contribute to all of Airbus’s commercial and helicopter programs globally.
PM Modi added that defense exports had increased 30 times over the past decade, with the country now exporting equipment to over 100 countries. He said, “India’s transformation of the defense sector exemplifies how the right plan and partnership can turn possibilities into prosperity.”
He underlined that strategic decisions had spurred the growth of a vibrant defense industry in India over the last decade; he said, “We expanded private sector participation in defense manufacturing, made public sector units more efficient, restructured ordnance factories into seven major companies, and empowered DRDO and HAL,” said Modi.
He added that establishing defense corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu has infused new energy into the sector.
Touching upon the iDEX (Innovation for Defence Excellence) scheme, the Prime Minister said that it had driven the growth of around 1,000 defense start-ups in the past five to six years.
Airbus invests more than $1 billion yearly in a robust supply chain in India for components and services, generating more than 15,000 jobs.