- Tata, Airbus conclude helicopter deal to co-manufacture H125 single-engine helicopters for commercial use
- India, France in talks for financing mechanism, localisation for Jaitapur n-project
NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JAN 27
India and France on Friday unveiled ambitious defence industrial roadmap to co-develop critical military hardware, firmed up a space situational awareness programme even as the Tata Group and Airbus announced to jointly build H125 helicopters following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Airbus and Tata Group have inked a deal to co-manufacture H125 single-engine helicopters for commercial use at their assembly line in Vadodara, Gujarat. Additionally, they will collaborate on producing a minimum of 40 C-295 transport aircraft in India, with Tata Advanced Systems Limited overseeing the assembly in Gujarat.
This move responds to a substantial demand for single-engine helicopters in India, catering to high-net-worth individuals, goods transportation, and medical emergencies. Officials suggest an immediate demand for 600-800 helicopters from interested buyers. Airbus’ H130 is widely employed in tourist destinations, VIP duties, medical airlifts, and surveillance missions.
The announcement coincides with French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit for the 25th-anniversary celebrations of the India-France Strategic Partnership and the Republic Day festivities.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, announcing the outcomes of Thursday’s Modi-Macron talks in Jaipur, said a scheme for exchange of professionals in the age bracket of 18 to 35 years and activation of Schengen visas with a five-year validity for Indian postgraduate alumni of French institutions were among other key decisions.
The two sides inked a total of nine agreements that would provide for cooperation in a large number of areas including defence-space partnership, satellite launches boosting engagement in the healthcare sector and scientific research.
The pacts inclucded the defence industrial roadmap and the Tata-Airbus deal. The two sides also announced operationalisation of India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) at Eiffel Tower.
The French president began his two-day visit to India from Jaipur and was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in Delhi on Friday.
At a media briefing, Kwatra said both sides deliberated on various aspects to advance civil-nuclear energy cooperation and that there was a “very positive, forward leaning” ongoing conversation on small modular reactors (SMRs).
Modi and Macron also expressed “grave concern” at the possibility of further expansion of the conflict in the Middle-East, including in the Red Sea, which already has a significant “economic impact”, a joint statement released late in the night said.
“They recalled the utmost importance of upholding freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and of respecting the international law of the sea. They had detailed conversation aimed at coordinating their efforts in that region in this regard,” it said.
In the talks, Macron reiterated France’s intention to create conditions to attract up to 30,000 Indian students annually to French institutions of higher learning.
The joint statement said both the leaders welcomed the decision of Airbus and the Tata Advanced System to begin the assembly of civilian helicopters in India as they will become the first private sector companies to produce helicopters in the country.
Under the deal, Airbus Helicopters will be partnering with the Tata Group to establish a Final Assembly Line (FAL) for H125 helicopters in India. The FAL will produce the helicopters from its civil range for India and export to some of the neighbouring countries.
Modi and Macron also expressed commitment to deepening the integration between defence industrial sectors of the two nations and to work together to identify opportunities for co-design, co-development, co-production with the objective of not only fulfilling the defence needs of the India, but also to provide a reliable source of defence supplies to other friendly countries, the statement said.
The two leaders welcomed the adoption of the ambitious defence industrial roadmap, it said.
“They welcomed the progress in the establishment of the MRO for LEAP engines in India by Safran and the plans to add MRO for Rafale engines, a comprehensive helicopter partnership with a joint venture for IMRH (Indian Multi Role Helicopter) engine between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Safran, and the Scorpene submarines constructed in India, including indigenisation,” the joint statement said.
There was no announcement on India’s proposed procurement of 26 naval variants of Rafale jets and three Scorpene submarines from France as it is understood that price negotiations for the multi-billion dollar deals are still underway.
The pact on defence space partnership would facilitate joint work on a space situational awareness program, being billed as very significant for developing military satellites and sharing of crucial information on space traffic and debris.
Kwatra said the defence roadmap will provide for technology collaboration in the spheres of air, space, underwater domain awareness, land warfare, robotics, cyber defence, artificial intelligence as also autonomous vehicles and platforms.
The focus would be on defence manufacturing in a manner that can harness the compatibilities and competencies of the two economies in the defence sector, he said. It has been agreed that the year 2026 will be celebrated as India-France year of innovation, Kwatra said.
The pact between NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) and French space agency Arianespace , the two sides will aim to co-develop, manufacture and launch of satellites and payloads, besides carrying out research in new launch vehicle technologies.
Modi and Macron also touched upon ongoing cooperation between the two nations in the Indian Ocean Region as well as the Indo-Pacific.
On India-France civil-nuclear cooperation, Kwatra said there are several elements to it including localisation, financial viability, cost effectiveness and the two sides are continuing the discussions.
The foreign secretary described the area of small modular reactors (SMRs) as a relatively new domain space in terms of discussion between the two countries.
“Technology needs to come together, viability needs to come together and its positioning in the overall energy mix needs to come together. There was a very positive, forward leaning ongoing conversation between the two countries (on it),” he said.
According to the joint statement, both Modi and Macron strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 and expressed solidarity with the people of Israel.
“Condemning the huge loss of civilian lives in the ongoing conflict, they emphasised the need to respect international humanitarian law and to create conditions, including through a humanitarian ceasefire, for aid to flow to the affected population in the Gaza region,” it said.
India, France in talks for financing mechanism, localisation for Jaitapur n-project
India and France are trying to move forward on elements related to putting in place a financing mechanism and localisation component for the 9,900 MWe Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district.
Responding to questions on civil nuclear cooperation between India and France and whether the Jaitapur project was put on pause, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said the French power company EDF and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) were discussing elements such as a financing mechanism and localisation component of the project.
