The C-295 and India’s aircraft industry

The C-295 and India’s aircraft industry

#GS-03 Economy

For Mains:

Indian Aviation Sector currently:

  • Indian companies, both public and private, have steadily expanded their footprint in the global supply chains of major defence and aerospace manufacturers supplying a range of components, systems and sub-systems.
  • India has a much bigger footprint in civil aviation manufacturing than defence, in addition to being a market itself.
  • Both Airbus and Boeing do significant sourcing from India for their civil programmes.
  • Boeing has been sourcing from India stands at $1 billion annually, of which over 60% is in manufacturing.
  • This is done through 300+ supplier partners of which over 25% are micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).
  • Tata in a joint venture (JV) with Boeing, manufactures aero-structures for its AH-64 Apache helicopter, including fuselages, secondary structures, vertical spar boxes fuselages and vertical fin structures for the 737 family of aircraft.
  • It also makes Crown and Tail-cones for Boeing’s CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
  • 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.
  • One of the JV’s also began manufacturing complex fighter wings with over 70% of detail parts produced indigenously.
  • The JVs till date have clocked $600 million worth of exports and produced over $200 million in Indian industry revenue.
  • Airbus buys manufactured parts and engineering services worth $650 million every year from more than 45 Indian suppliers.

How does the new manufacturing plant impact Indian economy:

  • The U.S. simplifying its export regulations for India, through a series of measures, has added further impetus to the development of Aviation industry 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 Vadorara but across the country.
  • Bengaluru and Hyderabad already have developed such aerospace and defence domains over the years.
  • The C-295 project is expected to create more than 15,000 skilled direct and indirect jobs across the aerospace ecosystem, with more than 125 suppliers qualified on global quality standards across India.
  • Manufacturing of over 13,400 detail parts, 4,600 sub-assemblies and all the seven major component assemblies will be undertaken in India, along with tools, jigs and testers.

 

To know more about C-295 manufacturing in India click here