Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the C-295 transport aircraft manufacturing facility at Vadodara to be set up by Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) and Airbus Defence and Space. The C-295 will replace the Avro aircraft in service with IAF.
This is the country’s first aircraft manufacturing facility in the private sector, and has been pitched as a crucial step towards “Atmanirbharta” (or self-reliance). The C-295 aircraft - which would be manufactured at the facility - aims to modernise the Indian Air Force (IAF) fleet. The total cost of the project is said to be around ₹21,935 crore.
At the event, addressing the crowd that gathered to see PM Modi he said, “The transport aircrafts that'll be manufactured here will not only give power to our Army but also develop a new ecosystem of manufacturing aircraft... Soon, India will witness the passenger aircraft that will be made with the tag of 'Make In India'". Further the Prime Minister reiterated, “in the coming years, the Defence and Aerospace sectors will be two important pillars for making India 'Atmanirbhar'. By 2025, our defence manufacturing scale would cross $25 billion. Defence corridors being established in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu would power this scale"