Vadodara gets Tata-Airbus plant for IAF’s C-295 aircraft

31 Oct 2022 CW Team

Tata, Airbus grab Rs 22,000-cr project to make C-295 aircraft in Gujarat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a plant in Vadodara that will manufacture the Airbus C-295 transport aircraft. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) had announced last week that it had for the first time entrusted a private firm, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), to manufacture an entire aircraft for the military.

This contract is expected to support the development of India’s aerospace ecosystem, bringing 15,000 skilled direct jobs and 10,000 indirect positions over the coming decade, besides a large investment, according to Airbus officials.

In September 2021, the MoD had signed a Rs 219.35 billion contract with Airbus for 56 C-295 aircraft. Since they were to replace the Indian Air Force’s aged fleet of Avro HS-748 aircraft, this deal earned the sobriquet of ‘Avro replacement programme’.

The programme will require TASL to develop an entire industrial ecosystem, from manufacture, assembly, testing and qualification, to delivery and maintenance over the aircraft’s life.

The IAF will be the 35th operator of the C-295 worldwide. Airbus has orders for 278 of these aircraft, of which more than 200 are already in operation.

Under the contract, Airbus would build the first 16 aircraft on its final assembly line in Seville (Spain) and deliver them to the IAF in ‘fly-away condition’ between September 2023 and August 2025. The remaining 40 aircraft are to be manufactured by TASL working along with Tata Consultancy Services TCS).

Infrastructure Transport

07 Apr 2026

Tunnelling Begins for Thane, Borivali twin tunnel project

Tunnelling work has commenced for the 11.84-km Thane–Borivali Twin Tunnel, set to be India’s longest urban road tunnel, marking a key milestone in Mumbai’s infrastructure development.As per a post shared by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority on social media platform X, the tunnel boring machine (TBM) ‘Nayak’—the country’s largest single-shield hard rock TBM for an urban tunnel—was launched by Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday. The event was attended by Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, among other dignitaries. A second TBM, ‘Arjuna’, is expected to be launched so..

Large Format Store Planned At M G Road Metro Station

M G Road station in Bengaluru is set to host the city’s first large-format commercial and experience space, with planning led by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited. BMRCL has invited proposals to develop and operate a central business district destination at the Purple?Pink Line interchange. The plan positions the station as a commercial hub designed to serve a broad commuter base across the city. The proposal is part of a broader effort to activate transit nodes commercially. Tender documents set a minimum monthly rental of Rs 0.944 million (mn), inclusive of GST, for the large-format..

Government Cancels Auction Of Eleven Critical Mineral Blocks

The government has cancelled the auction of 11 critical and strategic mineral blocks after receiving a poor investor response and failing to attract a sufficient number of qualified bidders. The decision represents a setback to plans to ramp up domestic exploration and production of critical minerals amid global supply chain disruptions and rising demand for materials used in clean energy and advanced technologies. The mines ministry issued an annulment notice setting out the reasons for the cancellations. The annulment notice indicated that the auction process for five mineral blocks was canc..