Vadodara:Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Spain President Pedro Sanchez participated in a roadshow in Gujarat's Vadodara on Monday as they headed to inaugurate Tata Advanced Systems Ltd's aircraft assembly facility.
The roadshow included a 'Shobha Yatra,' and the city was beautifully decorated with lights to welcome the leaders. Residents of Vadodara expressed their excitement about the visit and hoped for stronger international relations with Spain.
Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi and Union Minister CR Patil were also seen inspecting the route for the roadshow, ensuring everything was for the event. The roadshow is expected to draw significant attention from the public.
PM Modi and Prime Minister Sanchez later inaugurated Tata-Airbus's C295 aircraft assembly plant in the city. This collaboration between Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. (TASL) and Airbus Spain marks India's first private sector final assembly line (FAL) for military aircraft, boosting the nation's aerospace capabilities. The plant, located at TASL's Vadodara campus, is part of India's Rs 2.5 billion deal signed in 2021 to acquire 56 C-295 military transport aircraft from Airbus.
Under the agreement, Airbus will deliver 16 aircraft directly from Spain, while the remaining 40 will be manufactured in India by TASL. This project will create a comprehensive ecosystem for aircraft development, covering assembly, testing, certification, and maintenance throughout the lifecycle of the aircraft. Major Indian defence players like Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL), along with smaller enterprises, are also contributing to this project. The C-295 aircraft will strengthen India's Air Force fleet with a modern and more reliable transport solution.