India presents low cost manufacturing and high output opportunities: Modi

Prime Minister lays foundation stone for C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing facility coming up in Vadodara

India’s growth momentum has been maintained despite the COVID-19 pandemic, war, and supply-chain disruptions, and India is presenting opportunities for low cost manufacturing and high output, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday after laying the foundation stone for the C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing facility to be set up by a consortium of Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus Defence and Space in Vadodara.

The event comes just before the announcement of the schedule for Assembly elections in Gujarat.

“In the coming years, the defence and aerospace sectors will be two important pillars for making India aatmanirbhar (self-reliant). We have a goal of exceeding $25 billion in defence manufacturing by 2025. Besides, our defence exports would be more than $5 billion,” Mr. Modi said at the event which saw a huge turnout.

In September 2021, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a ₹21,935 crore deal with Airbus Defence and Space, Spain for the procurement of 56 C-295MW aircraft. This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India under technology transfer by the private sector.

The Prime Minister termed the C-295 project a big step in the direction of making India the manufacturing hub of the world. Observing that India is making fighter jets, tanks, submarines, medicines, vaccines, electronic gadgets, mobile phones and cars that are popular in many countries, Mr. Modi said the country is now becoming a huge manufacturer of transport aircraft. “India is moving forward with the mantra of ‘Make in India, Make for the Globe’. Today our policies are stable, predictable and futuristic,” Mr. Modi said.

In this regard, he highlighted the increased demand for passenger and cargo aircraft. The PM stated that India will need more than 2,000 aircraft in the next 15 years. “We are about to enter among the top three countries in the world with regard to air traffic,” he added.

Speaking at the event, N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, said, “With the set-up of the final assembly line (FAL) in Vadodara, the Tata Group will now be able to take aluminium ingots at one end of the value stream and turn it into a Airbus C295 aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF).”