Explained | The C-295 and India’s aircraft industry

Source: The post is based on the article “Explained | The C-295 and India’s aircraft industry” published in The Hindu on 2nd November 2022.

What is the News?

The Prime Minister has laid the foundation stone for the C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing facility in Vadodara to be set up by Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited(TASL).

What is a C-295 aircraft?

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What is the significance of the C-295 aircraft manufacturing facility in India?

The domestic defence manufacturing ecosystem will get a boost with the C-295 project as it will lead to the development of a strong private industrial aerospace ecosystem not only in and around Vadodara but across the country. 

About India’s Civil Aviation Sector

India has a much bigger footprint in civil aviation manufacturing than defence in addition to being a major market itself. Both Airbus and Boeing do significant sourcing from India for their civil programmes.

For instance, Boeing’s sourcing from India stands at $1 billion annually, of which over 60% is in manufacturing, through a growing network of 300+ supplier partners of which over 25% are micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). 

Similarly, Lockheed Martin has joint ventures with TASL in Hyderabad which has manufactured more than 180 empennages for the C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft and delivered 157 S-92 helicopter cabins. 

Hence, today India has the world’s fastest-growing aviation sector and is about to reach the top three countries in the world in terms of air traffic.