PM Modi, Spanish PM to inaugurate C295 military transport aircraft setup today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez will inaugurate a new facility in Vadodara on Monday that will produce C295 military transport aircraft. The first private sector facility to build military aircraft in India will get a boost as additional orders are being processed that will bring more work to the Indian defence ecosystem.

Sources said that the facility will produce a total of 52 aircraft - 40 for the Air Force and 12 for the Navy and Coast Guard. The additional order for 15 aircraft for the Navy and Coast Guard - 3 will be bought off the shelf and rest produced in India - has been okayed by the defence ministry and is being processed.

Air Force already has an order for 56 of the military aircraft that was signed in September 2021 for ₹2,1935 crore. Out of these, 40 are to be produced at the Vadodara facility.


Sources said work on production will start this year and first aircraft from the facility will be delivered by 2026. All Air Force aircraft will be delivered by August 2031, as per current plans.

Indian manufacturing consortium is led by Tata Advanced Systems in partnership with Airbus Defence and Space SA Spain. A total of 37 companies have been identified by Airbus as sub-suppliers. Sources said a substantial proportion of components are planned to be manufactured in India.