In a world where self-reliance and indigenization are the buzzwords, india has officially entered a new era of aviation, one screwdriver turn at a time. The indian government recently inaugurated the grand Airbus C295 manufacturing plant in Vadodara, Gujarat, a facility that will reportedly churn out an impressive 40 planes—over a span of just five years. Yes, it took only until 2023 for india to get a factory that assembles transport planes, while the rest of the world politely applauds from the business class section.
Prime minister Modi, ever the orator, deemed the plant a shining example of "New india," where “make in India” extends to bolting together pre-designed aircraft with the sort of national pride normally reserved for launching lunar missions. With Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez in attendance to give his blessing, we’re assured that the tech transfer is "full," which we can all agree is a very generous interpretation of the term. After all, it’s nice to know that Spain—one of the Airbus consortium’s smaller players—would rather teach Tata Advanced Systems Limited to build planes than do it themselves.
In fact, the Airbus C295, which promises to lift our armed forces’ "capabilities," replaces the half-century-old Avro aircraft. Yes, that’s right: we’re finally letting go of planes designed when the Beatles were still together. One can only wonder if Tata and Airbus executives had a laugh imagining the Avro's retirement send-off, perhaps by actually running one of the new C295s in its place and watching it not break down mid-air.
The project, to be fair, isn’t without ambition. After all, india will manufacture these 40 planes between 2026 and 2031, which roughly averages to one plane every two months. The anticipation is palpable. Soon, indian skies will see the proud flight of aircraft put together with a level of finesse that can only be achieved when every part comes with an instruction manual.
In the words of PM Modi, this plant represents New india, and indeed it does. It’s an india that’s ready to roll up its sleeves, grab a wrench, and start turning screws on a product that some other country designed—right here on our soil. What an exciting future for indian manufacturing.
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