Kamal Ghorui
India desperately needs aircraft, both civilian and military. On the defence front, the country’s dwindling fighter jet squadrons have raised concerns. That’s why the expected clearance for the purchase of 114 Rafale fighter jets from France, ahead of Emmanuel Macron’s upcoming visit, assumes salience. But will that be smooth flying? The American acquisition of French component supplier LMB Aerospace could bring Rafale sales under US’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations. This could potentially see sale of Rafale platforms with LMB components requiring a US waiver. The other plane fact – India has a massive civilian aircraft order book of over 2,000 planes over the next decade, but all of these have to be imported.
So, there’s a strong case for indigenous aircraft production, both civilian and military. Govt is planning to earmark Rs 12,511cr to set up an SPV for developing a regional transport aircraft, with the bulk of the money going towards certification, testing and infra. Certification, particularly, is a technically challenging and expensive process. Note that China’s domestically developed civilian aircraft, C919, that entered commercial service in 2023 still doesn’t have certification from either European Union Aviation Safety Agency or US Federal Aviation Administration. This means the vast majority of airlines can’t induct the plane into their fleet.
But the biggest challenge for India is creating the ecosystem for aircraft manufacturing. This requires thousands of specialised suppliers for everything from avionics to landing gear. Then comes the engine issue – even Chinese aircraft don’t have indigenous engines. But we have to start somewhere, and learning by doing is the best way forward. Adani Group’s recent MoU with Brazil’s Embraer to set up a regional aircraft manufacturing facility in India is a good step. A civilian aircraft manufacturing base will have obvious spillover benefits for the military. And this may finally see us crack the engine riddle down the road. But GOI’s regional aircraft SPV and boosted investments in R&D will be critical.
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