Govt clears $3 billion Airbus-Tata project for 56 military transport aircraft

NEW DELHI: The long-pending Airbus-Tata project to build 56 C-295 transport aircraft, which will replace the old Avro-748 planes of IAF at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore (around $3 billion), was finally cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday.

While 16 of the twin-turboprop C-295MW aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by M/s Airbus Defence and Space (Spain) within two years of the signing of the actual contract, the rest 40 will be manufactured in India by the Tata Consortium within 10 years.

This will be the first time an Indian private sector company will manufacture a military aircraft, though with transfer of technology from a foreign firm, breaking the virtual monopoly of defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in the field.