India Beefs up Defense Production With Airbus Plant in Gujarat

India will open its first private military aircraft manufacturing facility on Monday as the South Asian nation ramps up its local defense production to cut reliance on imports.

The factory — a joint venture between Airbus SE and TATA Advanced Systems — will produce transport aircraft to replace Indian military’s aging fleet. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who’s on a two-day visit to India, will inaugurate the facility with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in the latter’s home state of Gujarat.

The first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in 2026 and the remaining by August 2031, according to Indian officials who asked not be named as the discussions are private.

The manufacturing facility follows a 219 billion rupees ($2.6 billion) contract between India and Airbus for 56 C-295 transporters three years ago. Of these, 16 aircraft will be made in Spain and rest in India, with state-owned firms as Bharat Electronics Ltd. and Bharat Dynamics Ltd. also contributing to the program, according to a statement.

The C-295s, which can carry as much as nine metric tons or 71 troops, will replace the aging Indian Air Force fleet of Avro cargo planes inducted six decades ago. India’s military expects to build more of these transport aircraft to help replace Russian-made An-32 transporters that are fast reaching the end of their lives.

Local components in the India-made C-295s will rise to as much as three-fourths from about half now, they said.

A spokesperson for India’s Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the details. 

The move comes as India aims to reduce its dependence on foreign-made equipment, especially from Russia. Moscow remains New Delhi’s largest weapon supplier despite a drop in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace research Institute, an independent thinktank that tracks weapons trade. 

In addition, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has delayed weapon supplies to India affecting defense preparedness and adding greater urgency to locally produce weapons.