The clearance of the joint project between Airbus Defence and Tata Advanced Systems to build transport aircraft C-295 in India is a "bold step" that will create a domestic supply chain capability of international standards, Tata group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata said on Friday.
The defence ministry on Friday signed a contract of nearly Rs 20,000 crore with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain to procure 56 C-295 aircraft.
As per the deal, 16 aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition and the remaining 40 will be manufactured in India by a consortium of the Airbus Defence and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) within 10 years of signing the contract.
Reacting to the development, Tata in a statement said,"The clearance of the joint project between Airbus Defence and Tata Advanced Systems to build the C-295 is a great step forward in the opening up of aviation and avionics projects in India."
He further said,"The C-295 is a multi-role aircraft with several reconfigurations to meet mission requirements. It envisages total manufacturing of the aircraft in India. It will create a domestic supply chain capability of international standards, which has never been undertaken before."
On behalf of the Tata Group, the veteran industrialist congratulated Airbus and the Indian defence ministry, for "this bold step in fully building this state-of-the-art multi-role aircraft in India in support of the "Make in India' thrust to bolster the country's equity framework".
The long-pending procurement of C-295 was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security two weeks back. This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company.
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