Tata Group And Airbus To Manufacture Civilian Helicopters Together

Tata and Airbus are already cooperating to make the C-295 transport aircraft in Gujarat

Tata group and Airbus have signed an agreement to manufacture civilian helicopters together, citing India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra news agency Reuters said on Friday. According to the report, the agreement was signed during French President Emmanuel Macron's ongoing state visit to India, quoting Kwatra the news agency said. As per the report, Tata and Airbus are already cooperating to make the C-295 transport aircraft in Gujarat. 

In a media briefing, Kwatra said, “Industrial partnership (signed) between Tata and Airbus helicopters for production of H125 helicopters with a significant indigenous and localisation component.”

Airbus on Friday announced that the final assembly line (FAL) for helicopters. It said the machines produced would also be exported to some of India's neighbouring countries. "The FAL will take 24 months to set up and deliveries ... are expected to commence in 2026," Airbus said, adding that the location of the facility will be jointly decided by the companies. 

Tata did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. 

Further cooperation in the defence sector was also discussed during Macron's state visit, officials said, including the possibility of French engine maker Safran assisting in manufacture of fighter jet engines in India. 

France is already India's second largest arms supplier and New Delhi has relied on its fighter jets for four decades now. "Safran is fully willing to do it with a 100 per cent transfer of technology in design, development, certification, production and so on," India Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf said, adding that discussions will continue on the matter. 

Jyotiraditya Scindia Meets Airbus Global CEO Guillaume Faury

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday met Airbus Global CEO Guillaume Faury and discussed collaboration opportunities for manufacturing and designing of aircraft, the PTI reported. India is one of the key markets for Airbus, which received orders for more than 700 planes from IndiGo and Air India last year. IndiGo, the country's largest airline, has only Airbus aircraft in its fleet.

In a post on X, Scindia said he met "Guillaume Faury, Global CEO, Airbus today and discussed further opportunities of collaboration for aircraft manufacturing and designing". As one of the fastest growing economies and with a focus on Make In India, the country has huge potential to become a global aircraft manufacturing hub, he said.