Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus inaugurate C295 Final Assembly Line

TASL and Airbus are partnering for the pioneering ‘Make in India’ project to deliver 56 C295 aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF). The state-of-the-art facility was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India, Shri. Narendra Modi and the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón in the presence of N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space.

Providing a major boost to the Government of India’s 'AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India) programme, this is the first instance of the private sector setting up an aircraft FAL in India. The inauguration comes three years after the IAF formalised the acquisition of 56 Airbus C295 aircraft to replace their legacy AVRO fleet. As per the contract, 40 units will be manufactured and assembled in partnership with TASL at this FAL, while 16 will be delivered to the IAF in ‘fly-away’ condition from Airbus’ final assembly line in Seville, Spain. To date, a total of six aircraft have already been delivered.

N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, said: "The Tata Group is very proud in setting up this advanced facility which will manufacture the nation’s first private defence aircraft from the ground up. It will significantly enhance both defence and advance manufacturing capabilities.

I am thankful to Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón and the distinguished guests for joining us at this momentous occasion in India's indigenous manufacturing journey."

“The inauguration of this final assembly line (FAL) is a significant milestone in India’s journey towards self-reliance in defence manufacturing. The C295 India programme demonstrates Airbus’ commitment to supporting India’s vision of ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ in defence manufacturing. Aligned to this vision, this FAL will propel the advancement of the aerospace industrial ecosystem in the country, unlocking the potential for cutting-edge design, component manufacturing, aircraft assembly and services capabilities across the Indian value chain,” said Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space.

The FAL will integrate manufacturing of detail parts and related tooling, sub-assemblies, major component assemblies, tools, jigs and testers. The production of components of the C295 aircraft have already started in the Main Component Assembly (MCA) facility in Hyderabad. The parts for the first C295 aircraft to be made in India have been shipped to the Vadodara FAL, where the aircraft will be assembled and then delivered to the IAF.