PM Modi to lay foundation stone for C-295 aircraft manufacturing plant in Vadodara on Oct 30

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on October 30 lay the foundation stone of a manufacturing facility being set up by the Tata-Airbus consortium at Vadodara in Gujarat for C-295 medium transport aircraft to modernise the Indian Air Force’s transport fleet, top defence ministry officials said on Thursday.

The development is significant as a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private consortium for the first time. It comes more than a year after the defence ministry signed a ₹21,935-crore contract with Airbus



Defence and Space for 56 C-295 planes to give push to the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (self-reliant India campaign). Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Airbus Defence and Space will jointly execute the programme. The C-295s will replace the IAF’s fleet of ageing Avro-748 planes that entered service in the early 1960s.

Defence secretary Ajay Kumar said 16 C-295 aircraft will be delivered by Airbus in flyaway condition from Spain, and the remaining 40 will be manufactured in India by Tata consortium of TASL and Tata Consultancy Services.