Tata-Airbus collaborate on ‘Make in India’ initiative, to launch India’s first privately owned helicopter manufacturing unit here

India’s first privately owned helicopter manufacturing unit will soon be opened in Karnataka's Kolar after Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) and Airbus collaborated on the project. Airbus is the European aviation giant which has joined hands in the “Make In India” initiative which has led by Tata. The collaboration has planned to come up with a facility that will design the famous H125 civil helicopter for both Indian and regional markets. The facility would stand as the fourth biggest such factory in global terms after France, the US and Brazil. 

According to an Economic Times report, the ‘Make in India’ initiative aims to become self-reliant in the aerospace industry. The report also said that Karnataka gained the opportunity to fulfill the project after Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur lost it as the former has an effective aerospace ecosystem including the TASL infrastructure combined with the incentives that the state government provide for land subsidies, fast-track clearances, and various benefits regarding production. Among other reasons why Karnataka was chosen to complete the project were the irresistible land subsidies promised by the state government, major capital incentives and abundance of skilled workforce and expansion potential. 

The new factory will be built on 740,000 sq ft of land which TASL acquired for the Final Assembly Line, manufacturing, maintenance, repair, and overhaul operations. The two aerospace giants are simultaneously building an assembly plant in Gujarat’s Vadodara to manufacture C295 aircraft. This manufacturing unit has garnered massive investments in semiconductors and gems. Many important defence and aerospace projects have been built in Gujarat which has become the subject of central government’s criticism as the opposition partis accuse the government of favouritism.  

The assembly plant will be reportedly set up in the Vemgal Industrial area which is almost two hours away from Bengaluru. The upcoming project with its facility in Karnataka will start operations with an impressive capacity to produce 10 helicopters per year and in the near future is said to expand production, the report said.