Officials close to the development said there is a huge demand for single-engine helicopters in India by HNIs, transporting goods, or medical emergencies. “There is already an immediate ready demand by interested buyers for at least 600-800 such helicopters,” an official said. From major tourist destinations to the busy airspace over cities, Airbus’ single-engine H130 (previously known as the EC130 T2) is in widespread use with sightseeing services, VIP duties, as well as medical airlift and surveillance missions.
The deal will be announced on Friday to coincide with the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron in India on the 25th-anniversary celebrations of the India-France Strategic Partnership. He will attend the Republic Day celebrations in the national capital Delhi. Macron has been invited as the chief guest for the 75th Republic Day celebrations on 26th January.
Tata Group did not comment.
Airbus and India’s Tata group are also jointly manufacturing C-295 transport aircraft in India for defense purposes, with the final assembly line led by TASL to be set up in Gujarat’s Vadodara as part of a Rs 21,935-crore deal announced a year back. European aviation major Airbus and Tata group have sealed a deal to jointly manufacture H125 single-engine helicopters for commercial purposes at its assembly line in Gujarat’s Vadodara, which will also jointly manufacture at least 40 C-295 transport aircraft in India. Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) will manage the assembly line in Gujarat.
Tata Group and Airbus have been announcing a string of deals in recent years. Early last year, the Tata group announced plans to buy 250 aircraft from Airbus in the world’s largest aviation deal in history for Air India.
