indo asian news service, Toulouse, April 11: Emphasising that each of its A320 family of aircraft has a “Make in India” tag today, Airbus Industrie told Prime Minister Narendra Modi at its huge campus here Saturday that it will step up its sourcing volume from the country to $2 billion.
One of the billboards that greeted Prime Minister Modi and his delegation said it all, “That the total procurement of Airbus from India stood at $400 million till last year, covering a host of areas, and would now be enhanced to $2 billion by 2020”.
“Amazing visit to Airbus facility. They are very enthusiastic about the ‘Make in India’ initiative,” the prime minister eventually tweeted. He had arrived at the campus straight after landing here from Paris on a Boeing 747-437 aircraft of 1996 vintage.
India needs more
The occasion also saw the Airbus top brass give its assessment on the need for aircraft by Indian carriers. The country, it said, will require as many as 1,291 planes over the next 20 year – 913 in single-aisle configuration, 322 twin-aisles and 56 large ones.
“Every A320 family plane is now partly made in India,” read another large billboard, as the prime minister was taken on the tour by a team led by Airbus Group chief executive Tom Enders, who said his group was keen on forging a stronger industrial bond with India.
“India already takes centre-stage role in our international activities and we want to even increase its contribution to our products. We support Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ call and are ready to manufacture in India – for India and the world,” Enders said.
A visibly pleased Modi was informed that the Airbus procurement from India was set to grow further as it planed additional manufacturing and engineering work packages with local firms and accelerate their integration into the group’s global supply chain.
Other deals – away and home
Indo-French study on semi high-speed rail project
Paris: India and France will undertake a joint study on the execution of a semi high-speed railway project between New Delhi and Chandigarh.
This is part of the agreement on cooperation in the field of transportation signed on Friday following talks between visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande.
L&T, AREVA sign MoU
Chennai: Indian engineering major Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with French nuclear equipment major AREVA, the Indian company said Saturday.
In a regulatory filing with BSE, L&T said it has signed a MoU for cooperation to maximise localisation for AREVA’s EPR nuclear power plant.
The French company’s equipment are to be installed at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. According to L&T, the MoU represents a major step forward for the company in the field of pressurised water reactor technology.