India Opens Airbus Helicopter Assembly Line

India's Tata Group and European aviation giant Airbus opened a helicopter final assembly line on Tuesday, a significant step in New Delhi's flagship "Make in India" drive.

The virtual opening was made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, while their defence ministers Rajnath Singh and Catherine Vautrin attended the ceremony in person.

Located in Vemagal in the southern state of Karnataka -- near tech-hub city Bengaluru -- the new assembly line is expected to be operational in April.

"Our collaboration with India is a win-win situation," said Jocelyn Gaudin, head of Airbus's engineering and innovation centre in Bengaluru.

Airbus helicopters have played a key role in India for decades, including its Aerospatiale Alouette II, Eurocopter AS350 Ecureuil, and the high-altitude workhorse Lama.

That long-standing presence entered a new chapter on Tuesday with the inauguration of the factory dedicated to the H125, the manufacturer's best-selling single-engine helicopter.

In January, the European Union and India said they had struck a "historic" trade agreement reached after two decades of negotiations to create a market of two billion people.

Under that agreement, which Modi dubbed "the mother of all deals", India will eliminate tariffs on aircraft -- a potential boon for Airbus -- as well as cutting levies to zero on most machinery.

Airbus Helicopters presence in India dates back to 1962, when it signed its first licensing agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

That allowed the state-owned company to manufacture the Alouette III helicopter, known in India as the Chetak.

In October 2024, Tata and Airbus inaugurated a military aircraft factory in Gujarat's Vadodara city to produce cargo and troop-carrying C295 aircraft.

That took place during a visit by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who also returns to India this week, taking part in the AI Impact Summit hosted by Modi in New Delhi. -- AFP/RSS