CCS clears procurement of 56 transport aircraft from Airbus for IAF; 40 planes to be manufactured in India

In a major decision, the Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday approved the procurement of 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force to replace its ageing Avro planes which were first inducted around 60 years ago. Sixteen aircraft will be delivered in a flyaway condition by the Airbus Defence and Space of Spain within 48 months of signing the contract while the remaining 40 planes will be manufactured in India, according to the defence ministry.

The cost of the procurement is expected to be in the range of Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 crore, people familiar with the project said.The 40 planes will be manufactured in India by a consortium of the Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) within 10 years of signing the contract.

"Today, Cabinet Committee on Security approved the procurement of 56 C-295MW transport aircraft from M/s Airbus Defence and Space SA, Spain for the Indian Air Force," the defence ministry said in a statement about the decision by the prime minister-led committee.The C-295MW aircraft is a transport plane of 5-10 tonne capacity."Sixteen aircraft will be delivered in flyaway condition from Spain within 48 months of the signing of the contract and forty aircraft will be manufactured in India by TATA consortium within 10 years of the signing of the contract," the ministry said.

"This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India by a private company. All 56 aircraft will be installed with indigenous electronic warfare suite," it said.The in-principle approval for the Avro replacement programme was accorded around nine years ago.