Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron virtually inaugurated from Mumbai the Tata Advanced Systems final assembly line for the Airbus H-125 light utility helicopter at Vemagal in Karnataka. Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, French Minister Catherine Vautrin, Union Civil Aviation Minister K R Naidu and Karnataka industries minister M B Patil attended at the facility. Senior defence officials were also present.

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh described the facility as a milestone in India–France strategic cooperation, noting it followed the earlier C-295 transport aircraft collaboration. He said the initiative demonstrated ways India can work with international original equipment manufacturers to advance the Make-in-India vision. The remarks framed partnerships as a route to high-end manufacturing.

He emphasised that Make-in-India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat have been cornerstones of economic policy since 2014 and that the project reflected the Government’s commitment to self-reliance in critical technologies and high-end manufacturing. The H-125 programme investment was projected to exceed Rs 10 billion (Rs 10 bn) and was expected to generate direct and indirect employment for skilled youth. The project was presented as part of wider industrial capacity building.

He outlined reforms to expand private sector participation in defence production, including corporatisation of ordnance factories, liberalised investment schemes and defence industrial corridors. He noted that the private sector now accounted for almost a quarter of defence production and that defence exports had risen substantially. The expansion has supported micro, small and medium enterprises, which number over 16,000 and supply components to foreign companies.

The H-125 platform was described as optimised for high-altitude operations and versatile roles including reconnaissance, logistics, search and rescue and medical evacuation, with a performance ceiling exemplified by a landing on the summit of Mount Everest. For Indian forces operating in high-and-hot environments those capabilities were said to offer a significant operational advantage. The programme represents the second major industrial collaboration between Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus, following the C-295 assembly line, and is expected to strengthen the domestic military aerospace ecosystem in India.