INDIA on Friday inked a nearly Rs 20,000 crore contract with Airbus Defence and Space to procure 56 C-295 transport aircraft to replace the Avro-748 planes of the IAF under a project that entails manufacturing of military aircraft in the country for the first time by a private company.

Under the agreement, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain. The subsequent 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled by Tata Advanced Systems

(TASL) in India as part of an industrial partnership between the two companies. The chairman of Tata Trusts, Ratan Tata, congratulated Airbus Defence, Tata Advanced Systems Limited and the Defence Ministry on the inking of the contract, saying it is a “great step” forward in the opening up of the aviation and avionics projects in India.

In a signed statement posted on Twitter, he said the project will create a domestic supply chain capability to international standards, which has never been undertaken before.