Defence Ministry floats Rs 1 lakh crore tender for transport aircraft

New Delhi: The defence ministry has issued tenders for the procurement of new military transport aircraft (MTA) valued at about ₹1 lakh crore, kicking off a competitive process that is likely to see a close contest between American aerospace firm Lockheed Martin and Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer.

The tenders have been issued to at least four Indian defence companies which will take the lead in the programme to manufacture 60 aircraft locally, in participation with a global original equipment manufacturer. Indian companies that have been invited to participate are Tata, Adani, Mahindra and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

As per the plan, Indian companies will put in bids for the air force requirement, which will be followed by a technical audit, trials and a final selection based on techno-commercial offers. The process could take more than two years, given the scale of the project. Technical requirements of the air force are likely to restrict the competition to two aircraft types - the Lockheed Martin C 130J and Embraer's C 390. Lockheed Martin has chosen Tata Advanced Systems Limited as its Indian partner. Tata is already manufacturing the C 295 military transport aircraft in India for the air force.


Embraer had earlier announced a partnership with Mahindra for the MTA programme but is now believed to be also considering Adani Defence and Aerospace. The partnership could gain strength, given that Embraer and Adani recently announced a tie-up for manufacturing civilian passenger aircraft.

The MTA will replace the AN32 and IL76 transport fleet to meet strategic, tactical and operational airlift requirements of the armed forces. After the Airbus-Tata C 295, which is currently being produced at Vadodara, this will be the second large military aircraft line to be set up in India.