Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez will jointly inaugurate the TATA Aircraft Complex for manufacturing C-295 aircraft in Vadodara on Monday.
The Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) is the first private sector final assembly line for military aircraft in India and will manufacture and assemble medium-lift tactical C-295 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
As per the agreement with Airbus, IAF will acquire 56 C-295 to replace the AVRO fleet. Under the pact, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain. The remaining 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by TASL. More than 125 Indian micro, small and medium enterprise suppliers will also be involved in this project to manufacture over 13,000 parts and 7,600 sub-assemblies, thereby helping to establish a robust defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
The plant in Vadodara is similar to the Airbus facility in Seville and is equipped to produce up to 12 aircraft annually, the first of which will roll out by 2026. Launching the facility will also make India the 12th country with the capacity to manufacture such aircraft.
As for the aircraft, the C295 can carry about 50 paratroopers, 72 troops and can lift about 7.5 tons of load.
"This is much better than the AN32 (Antonov An-32 aircraft) performance. While the AN32, the getting in and getting out is from the side doors like any commercial aeroplane, the C295 has a ramp loading equipment, para assault landing, short field landing, high altitude operations, valley flying, and rescue becomes very easy," Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor (Retd) told ANI.
He added that the aircraft will come handy in the wake of the UDAN scheme which links the small and austere airfields in the far-flung areas of island territories Andaman, Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Northeast and high altitudes. "We would need a platform which has this capability. C295 can land in strips as short as about 3,000ft," he added.
Sanchez, Modi at
Baroda royal family home
Modi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will hold a roadshow from the airport to the Vadodara plant on Monday morning.
After the inauguration at 10 am, the duo will visit historic Laxmi Vilas Palace, the residence of the erstwhile Baroda royal family. "The two leaders will hold a bilateral meeting organised by the Ministry of External Affairs at the Laxmi Vilas Palace. They will have lunch at the palace before proceeding to their respective destinations," officials added.
Modi will then travel to Amreli where at around 2:45 PM, he will inaugurate Bharat Mata Sarovar at Dudhala. At around 3 PM, he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects of over Rs 4,800 crores at Lathi, Amreli, as per a PMO release.