Fifty-Six C-295 military transporters — each capable of carrying up to 9 tons of cargo — were ordered from Airbus by the Indian Air Force in September 2021, to replace their ageing Avro fleet. According to the $2.3 billion deal with Airbus Defense and Space, the first 16 aircraft will be delivered in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain. The delivery will be completed by September 2025.
The remaining 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL). Its plant in Hyderabad, India, is going live this month in a significant milestone that marks the first time India will make aircraft of this size. It will manufacture major components for India’s C-295 transport planes as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies.
While a majority of the work will be done in Hyderabad, and production of parts will also be done at the TASL facility in Nagpur, the final assembly line will be set up in Gujarat’s Vadodara by mid-next year. Parts such as fuselage and others made in Hyderabad will be shipped to Gujarat for the final assembly.
“Work on the Main Constituent Assembly Line (MCA) at the Tata Advanced Systems Limited facility in Hyderabad began this month,” said Jorge Tamarit, head of Airbus’s C-295 India program. “MCA is the initial assembly of various parts. The rear fuselage will be the first to be worked upon,” he added.
The IAF has entered into a five-year Performance-Based Logistics agreement with Airbus, making the company contractually obligated to ensure 85 percent of the fleet is operationally ready at any point in time, and not be in servicing or awaiting spare parts.
Airbus officials confirmed that they, along with TATA, are in talks with the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard for the procurement of up to 15 additional aircraft of which nine will be deployed for maritime surveillance. India’s Border Security Force, which also operates the Avros, is looking at procuring C-295 aircraft too. Besides, the TATA group can also market this aircraft to other countries.
The first India-made aircraft will be delivered in 2026 and the remaining 39 will be delivered by 2031.
