New Delhi, March 16 The government is making efforts to boost manufacturing activities in the country's fast-growing aerospace sector, and Indian companies are collaborating with foreign firms to set up facilities, Union Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Monday.
In response to a supplementary query during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, the civil aviation minister highlighted joint ventures with Embraer and Sukhoi.
"Regarding investment in aviation manufacturing, we have taken it very seriously. And for the first time, I am very happy to tell the House that Embraer, a Brazilian aircraft manufacturing company, has entered into a joint venture with an Indian manufacturing company."
"And we are going to soon start a final assembly line in the country, which will improve the manufacturing ecosystem," Naidu said.
The minister pointed out that the aviation sector is not an easy sector to start the manufacturing process.
"Aircraft manufacturing is very complex, and it requires very precise engineering. And countries have been working on this project for many decades, and some have not been successful. That is why, when you look at the international level, only a handful of countries are able to manufacture aircraft today," Naidu said.
Under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister, the government strongly believes that everything is possible in this new India, he said.
"We have collaborated with international companies. One, I mentioned Embraer. Also, the Russian Sukhoi people have also entered into an MoU with HAL to manufacture their SJ 100 super jet, which is also a 100-seater aircraft and is very important for our regional connectivity," Naidu said.
Meanwhile, Embraer has partnered with Adani Defence & Aerospace and Brazil to set up a final assembly line in India for the E175 regional jets. Currently, there are aircraft component manufacturing activities happening in the country. Naidu stated that more manufacturing facilities are being set up, especially for the aviation and aerospace ecosystem.
"And as we improve the aircraft components and the final assembly line, we will see more investment coming into this manufacturing sector," the minister said.
On a question related to improving connectivity from Chandigarh international airport, Naidu said the Centre will look into this issue.
He, however, asserted that the government is facilitating and encouraging Indian airlines to take international traffic in their own aircraft, rather than adding more points of call, which would benefit foreign carriers.
"The issue of having a point of call is not only for one specific airport. There are multiple airports. Multiple states have been requesting for point of call for better international connectivity," Naidu said.
Chandigarh currently has connectivity to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, he added. Generally, a point of call refers to the city where an airline can operate flights.
Naidu said the government wants major hubs in India like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to grow.
"We have all these major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. But what happens when you give more points of call, the foreign carriers come, and all the international passengers are taken to their country. They offer the transit airport, and then from there they are trying to send them to other destinations," he said.
The government intends to encourage Indian carriers to take more and more people to foreign destinations.
"So while keeping this in mind, we have given many points of call across the country. And definitely, if there is a very specific requirement, like a member has mentioned about the Chandigarh airport and the traffic that it's generating there, the government will definitely look into it," Naidu said.