Lok Sabha Question No. 319 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-03
Subject: C-295 Defence Aircraft
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik, Sukanta Majumdar, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Bhola Singh, Rajveer (Raju Bhaiya) Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 319

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03 rd  February, 2023

## C-295 DEFENCE AIRCRAFT

319. SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK: DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR: SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR: SHRI BHOLA SINGH: SHRI RAJVEER SINGH (RAJU BHAIYA):

Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:

- (a)    whether  an  Indian  company  has  joined  hands  with  aviation  giant  Airbus  Defence  and Space to develop C-295 defence aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF);
- (b)  if so, the details thereof;
- (c)    whether  the  Government  has  approved  the  deal  worth  Rs.  21,935  crore  between  the Indian Company and Airbus to jointly manufacture 56 units of C-295 MW transport aircrafts, if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  whether the new C-295 aircraft will replace the ageing Avro HS748 fleet in the Indian Air Force, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)  other steps being taken by the Government to provide a significant boost to the country's defence manufacturing capabilities?

## A  N  S  W  E  R

MINISTER OF STATE

IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

(a) to (d):  Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with M/s Airbus Defence and Space, S.A, Spain on 24 September, 2021 for procurement of fifty six C-295MW transport aircraft for Indian Air Force to replace the ageing AVRO fleet. Under this contract, 16 aircraft will be delivered  in  'Fly  Away'  condition  and  40  aircraft  will  be  manufactured  in  India  by  M/s Airbus  selected  'Tata  Consortium'  of  Tata  Advanced  Systems  Limited  (TASL)  and  Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with TASL as prime.

- (e):  The Government has taken several policy initiatives in the past few years and brought in reforms to encourage indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment,  thereby  promoting  self-reliance  in  defence  manufacturing  &  technology  in  the country. These

(SHRI AJAY BHATT)

initiatives,  inter-alia,  include  according  priority  to  procurement  of  capital  items  from domestic sources under Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP)-2020; Announcement of 18 major defence platforms for industry led design & development in March 2022; Notification of  four  'Positive  Indigenization  Lists'  of  total  411  items  of  Services  and  three  'Positive Indigenization Lists' of total 3738 items of Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), for which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timelines indicated against them; Simplification  of  Industrial  licensing  process  with  longer  validity  period;  Liberalization  of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy allowing 74%  FDI  under automatic route; Simplification of Make Procedure; Launch of Mission DefSpace; Launch of Innovations for Defence  Excellence  (iDEX)  scheme  involving  startups  &  Micro,  Small  and  Medium Enterprises (MSMEs); Implementation of Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017; Launch of an indigenization portal namely SRIJAN to facilitate indigenization by  Indian  Industry  including  MSMEs;  Reforms  in  Offset  policy  with  thrust  on  attracting investment  and  Transfer  of  Technology  for  Defence  manufacturing  by  assigning  higher multipliers; Establishment of two Defence Industrial Corridors, one each in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; Opening up of Defence Research & Development (R&D) for industry, startups and academia by earmarking 25 percent of defence R&D budget; and Progressive increase in allocation  of  Defence  Budget  of  military  modernization  for  procurement  from  domestic sources, etc.

To  enhance  functional autonomy,  efficiency  and  unleash  new  growth  potential  and innovation in Ordnance Factories, the production units of erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board have been corporatized into 7 Defence Public Sector Undertakings with 41 units, with effect from 1 st October 2021.

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