VADODARA, India – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez opened India's first military aircraft center on Monday, boosting New Delhi's ambitions to boost domestic production in its defense and aerospace industries.
Sanchez was welcomed into the country with a street parade in the city of Vadodara in the state of Gujarat where hundreds of people cheered and waved banners.
The two leaders then launched the Tata Aircraft Complex, a manufacturing facility that will produce the Airbus C-295 military transport aircraft in partnership with Airbus Spain and will be used by the Indian Air Force.
Sanchez said the project is a victory for Modi's vision to “turn India into an industrial hub and a magnet for investment and business-to-business cooperation.”
“This cooperation between Airbus and Tata will contribute to the progress of the Indian aerospace industry and will open new doors for other European companies,” he added.
The chairman of the Tata conglomerate, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, hailed it as a historic day for the country's defense sector and credited the late Ratan Tata, the industrialist and former chairman who died earlier this month, for creating the idea more than a decade ago.
Under the $2.5 billion deal signed in 2021, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft to its final assembly line in Seville, Spain. Six of them have been delivered to the Indian Air Force so far.
Tata Advanced Systems Ltd will produce 40 aircraft at the Vadodara plant, which is expected to deliver the first Indian-made C-295 aircraft in 2026. distant places. It can also be used for medical evacuation and to assist in disaster response and maritime patrol operations.
Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has vowed to make India a global manufacturing hub, including in infrastructure, medicine and defense. As part of an effort to modernize and modernize military equipment, the government wants to expand the defense manufacturing sector, an area that was used only by state-owned enterprises, and loosen regulations on foreign direct investment to try and encourage companies to innovate. themselves in India.
The visit marks the Spanish leader's first visit to India in 18 years. Modi and Sanchez met on the sidelines of world summits in 2018 and 2021. During the two-day visit, Sanchez will hold talks with Modi to review the relationship between the countries and also speak with India's Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
On Tuesday, Sanchez will travel to Mumbai, the financial capital of India and the home of Bollywood, where he is expected to interact with business and industry leaders, and visit film studios in an effort to increase cooperation between the Indian and Spanish entertainment industries.
Their bilateral trade was about to reach $10 billion as of 2023. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, more than 200 Spanish companies are actively operating in India and about 80 Indian companies in Spain.
The two leaders are expected to sign agreements that will enhance relations and cooperation in various fields such as trade, information technology, renewable energy and defense, according to a statement from the Indian government.
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