Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez have inaugurated India’s first private military aircraft plant, boosting New Delhi’s ambitions of growing local manufacturing in its defence and aerospace industries.
Sanchez was welcomed to India on Monday with a flower-filled open-top parade alongside Modi, as Madrid seeks to boost investment in the world’s fifth-largest economy.
The duo waved to crowds in a vehicle covered with flowers as they made their way to inaugurate the aircraft factory, a collaboration between Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus, in Vadodara city of Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where crowds of hundreds cheered and waved banners.
It is the first visit by a Spanish premier to India in 18 years. Modi visited Spain in 2017 and held talks with Sanchez at the G20 summits in 2018 and 2021.
India’s Ministry of Defence has agreed to a $2.5bn deal for 56 cargo and troop-carrying C-295 aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space in 2021. While 16 will be assembled in Seville in Spain – with the first deliveries made last year – the 40 remaining will be built in India.
The Indian plant in Vadodara will complete the first “Made in India” C-295 aircraft in 2026.
The aircraft is capable of transporting up to 71 soldiers or 50 paratroopers and will be able to access remote locations. It can additionally be used for medical evacuations and aid in disaster response and maritime patrol duties.
Sanchez said Airbus had opened a new chapter in India’s defence and space industry.
