Airbus, Tata Group to jointly set up helicopter manufacturing facility
The Tata group and European aerospace company Airbus have signed an agreement to manufacture H125 civilian helicopters together in India. This announcement came as India and France adopted a joint defence production roadmap and an agreement on defence space partnership, following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron.
French defence major Thales, too, said it is bringing its “trusted” high-tech capabilities to India and that it plans to set up an avionics MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) unit in Delhi to provide world-class services to its airline customers.
Under negotiation for the past year, the India-France Defence Production Roadmap could catapult Indian defence producers into the global league by allowing them access to European technology and exposure to France’s list of clients in the Asia-Pacific and beyond.
“The roadmap will identify opportunities for partnership in the defence industrial sector that prioritises co-design, co-development, and co-production, with an eye on building the defence supply chains between the two countries, so that they can be a useful contributor to the security partnership with other countries which use similar products,” said Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Friday at a press briefing, outlining the visit of the French president to Delhi.
The partnership would include air and space tech, maritime tech, including underwater domain awareness, and equipment and systems related to land warfare. It also heavily focuses on cutting-edge technology, including robotics, artificial intelligence, cyber-defence, and autonomous vehicles and platforms.
Also, in partnership with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), Airbus Helicopters will set up a final assembly line (FAL) for H125 civilian helicopters. This will be India’s first private helicopter manufacturing facility. “The FAL will take 24 months to set up and deliveries of the first ‘made-in-India’ H125s are expected to commence in 2026. The location of the FAL will be jointly decided by Airbus and the Tata group,” Airbus said in a statement.
The proposed helicopter manufacturing facility will be the second FAL to be established in India by Airbus in partnership with TASL. The two companies are currently building the C295 military transport aircraft FAL in Vadodara. India currently has fewer than 250 civilian helicopters in service vis à vis more than 15,000 that are operating in the US.
These made-in-India helicopters will also be exported to some of the neighbouring countries.
While Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia called it a “historic day”, N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Sons, said, “This facility will have the final assembly line in partnership with Airbus for the world’s bestselling Airbus H125 single-engine helicopter for the Indian, as well as export markets.”
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said: “Helicopters are crucial for nation building. A ‘made-in-India’ civil helicopter will not only be a symbol of the confident New India but will also unlock the true potential of the helicopter market in the country.”
Along with transportation of passengers and goods, the H125 can be used for segments, such as emergency medical services (HEMS), disaster management, law enforcement, tourism, and aerial work missions.
“Providing last-mile connectivity to remote areas, the H125 will significantly contribute to India’s regional connectivity scheme – Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) — that will further promote the tourism sector in the country,” Airbus noted.
Meanwhile, Vice-president and Country Director of Thales India Ashish Saraf, in a PTI report, described the decision to set up the avionics MRO unit in Delhi as a “key initiative” and asserted that Thales would fully support India’s domestic defence manufacturing. On whether India’s planned procurement of 26 Rafale-M fighter jets (marine version) and three Scorpene submarines from France would open new pathways for defence ties, Saraf did not give a direct reply but said Thales is proud to be a member of the Rafale team.
Space ties get stronger
A key anchor of India’s strategic partnership with France, space has found significant mention in the latest talks. A letter of intent agreed upon by both nations focused on space situational awareness to understand the increasingly crowded upper atmosphere where thousands of active and defunct satellites remain in orbit, Kwatra said.
Both nations would also work together on collision avoidance, earth monitoring, remote sensing, communications, and broadcasting, he further said.
New Space India Limited (NSIL), a public sector undertaking under the Department of Space, and French commercial launch service provider Arianespace have launched a partnership. NSIL is responsible for producing, assembling, and integrating the launch vehicle with the help of an industry consortium.
The Department has also signed two agreements with counterpart French institutions to jointly research decarbonized hydrogen, applied mathematics, digital technologies, and precision agriculture.
President Draupadi Murmu was set to hold a state banquet in Macron’s honour on Friday evening.
Macron had a busy schedule on the second day of his trip on Friday. Apart from attending the Republic Day parade as the Guest of Honour, he addressed the French community in Delhi and visited the Nizamuddin Dargah, a sufi shrine.
With PTI inputs
First Published: Jan 26 2024 | 6:24 PM IST