Air India on Tuesday announced plans to acquire 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing under deals potentially worth tens of billions of dollars, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, and US President Joe Biden hailing the agreements as important steps towards deepening India’s strategic partnership with the two countries.
Modi and Macron participated in a video call during which Tata Group chairperson N Chandrasekaran and Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury unveiled a deal whereby Air India will procure 250 aircraft, including 40 A350 wide-body aircraft for long distance routes, and 210 A320 narrow body aircraft for domestic and regional flights.
Biden announced a separate deal between Air India and Boeing for 220 aircraft, a mix of 737 MAXs, 787s, and 777Xs, worth $34 billion, with an option for 70 more planes worth almost $12 billion. Modi and Biden also spoke on phone, welcoming the “landmark agreement” with Boeing as a “shining example of mutually beneficial cooperation” that will help create jobs in India and the US.
The potential dollar worth of the Airbus deal was not immediately available.
During the video call with Macron, Modi described the agreement with Airbus as an important achievement for the bilateral strategic partnership and said: “Today, the India-France partnership is playing a direct role in ensuring international order and a stable and balanced multilateral system.”
He added, speaking in Hindi, “Whether it is regarding security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region or with regard to global food security and health security, India and France together are contributing positively.”
Macron pointed to bilateral cooperation in areas such as space, cyber, defence, health and energy transition, and said: “Now, we have the historic opportunity to go much further, given the potential of India and the Indian people.” There is a “deep commitment” in France to provide state-of-the-art and efficient technologies to India, and be part of the “Make in India” strategy, he said.
During the Modi-Biden phone conversation, both leaders expressed satisfaction at the deepening of the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership and welcomed the first meeting of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) in Washington. They expressed a desire to strengthen cooperation in space, semiconductors, supply chains, defence co-production and innovation ecosystems.
Modi invited Boeing and other US companies to make use of opportunities arising from India’s expanding civil aviation sector. The two leaders further agreed to bolster people-to-people and to remain in contact to ensure the success of India’s G20 presidency.
While announcing the Boeing deal, Biden said the agreement will support more than one million American jobs across 44 states. “This announcement also reflects the strength of the US-India economic partnership. Together with Prime Minister Modi, I look forward to deepening our partnership even further as we continue to confront shared global challenges — creating a more secure and prosperous future for all of our citizens,” he said.
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, and Air India CEO Campbell Wilson also participated in the video call between Modi and Macron.
Tata Group chairperson Chandrasekaran said one of the most important ingredients for Air India’s “massive transformation” into a world-class airline is an efficient and modern fleet. Referring to deal with Airbus for 250 aircraft, he said, “We have significant options to increase the fleet order once we grow.”
Airbus CEO Faury said “Make in India” is at the heart of his company’s strategy, and the programme between Airbus Defence and Space and Tata Advanced Systems for manufacturing C-295 medium lift military transport aircraft shows the firm’s commitment to supporting the government’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India).
“Airbus sees India as a strategic industrial and technological hub offering the right mix of competencies and competitiveness,” Faury said, adding every Airbus commercial aircraft and helicopter has parts designed and made in India or critical technology from an engineering centre in Bengaluru.
Modi, who referred to the French president as “my friend Emmanuel Macron”, said the Airbus deal demonstrates “ever deepening” relations between India and France and reflects the country’s successes in civil aviation, an integral part of the government’s development and national infrastructure strategies.
Noting that the number of airports has almost doubled in the past eight years, from 74 to 147, and the Udaan regional connectivity scheme has linked remote areas and boosted economic development, Modi said India is set to become the world’s third largest aviation market and estimates suggest the country will need more than 2,000 aircraft in the next 15 years.
“Under ‘Make in India’ and ‘Make for the World’, several new opportunities are emerging in aerospace manufacturing,” Modi said, pointing out the government has allowed the automatic route for 100% FDI in greenfield and brownfield airports, as well as 100% FDI for ground handling services and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).
“India can become an MRO hub for the entire region. I invite all global aviation companies present in India to take advantage of these opportunities,” he said.
Modi recalled his participation in the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the 2.5-billion euro C-295 aircraft project at Vadodara last October and highlighted that Safran, the world’s second largest aircraft equipment manufacturer, is establishing the biggest MRO facility in India to service aero-engines.
Macron said the agreement shows Airbus and its French partners, including Safran, are “fully dedicated to develop new areas of cooperation with India”. He pointed to his government’s efforts to reinvigorate domestic industry, especially in nuclear energy, space, cyber, biotech and microchips, over the past six years and said: “We want to build more with India.”
Macron made a strong pitch for investments in France while inviting Indian students, scientists, researchers, engineers and businesspeople to come to his country. However, he also pointed to challenges confronting the two countries and pledged France’s support towards ensuring the success of India’s G20 presidency.
“Among the fights we have to face together, clearly we have a lot of regional and multilateral challenges,” he said, adding that cooperation between the two sides is based on common ambitions in areas such as climate transition and biodiversity.
“We are working together for the success of India’s G20 presidency in a difficult context, with the Russian aggression against Ukraine. India, under [Modi’s] leadership, clearly can be the one to mobilise the whole world and help us to address the tremendous issues we have in front of us,” Macron said.
