India aviation sector fastest growing, says PM; highlights $25 bn goal by 2025
PM Modi made the remarks as he laid the foundation stone of the Tata-Airbus manufacturing plant in Gujarat.
Across the world, the fastest growing aviation sector is in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday as he laid the foundation stone for the country’s first private aircraft manufacturing facility in Gujarat's Vadodara. “In terms of air traffic, we are set to reach the top three global spots soon,” he further stressed in his address. In making India self-reliant, the defence and aerospace sectors will be two important pillars, PM Modi further pointed out as he stressed: “We have a goal of exceeding $25 billion in defence manufacturing by 2025. Besides, our defence exports would be more than $5 billion.”
Despite the challenges posed by the Ukraine war, and the coronavirus pandemic - which had wreaked havoc across the world for two years - the growth momentum in the manufacturing sector remains, PM Modi stressed.
On the Tata-Airbus project in Gujarat’s Vadodara, which is being pitched as a crucial milestone for the government's self-reliance push, the prime minister further highlighted: “This is the first time that such a huge investment has been made in the defence aerospace industry. This manufacturing facility in Vadodara would not just give a huge boost to the Air Force but also would help create an ecosystem for aircraft manufacturing.” The total cost of the project is estimated to be around ₹22,000 crore.
Airbus is one of the biggest commercial aircraft manufacturers of the world and India had earlier sealed a deal for 56 C-295 planes in a bid to replace Air Force fleet. While 16 of these would be delivered from Europe, 40 of these planes would be manufactured at the Gujarat facility that would also create thousands of jobs.
