New Delhi, Oct 27 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Spanish President Pedro Sanchez will on Monday inaugurate the Final Assembly Line Plant of the C295 aircraft at Vadodara, a flagship ‘Make in India’ initiative in the aviation sector, which is being set up by Tata Advanced Systems in collaboration with Airbus Spain.
A total of 56 aircrafts are there under the C-295 programme, of which 16 are being delivered directly by Airbus from Spain and the remaining 40 are to be made in India.
Tata Advanced Systems Ltd is responsible for making these 40 aircrafts in India.
The Tata Advanced Systems facility will be the first private sector Final Assembly Line (FAL) for military aircraft in India. It will involve the full development of a complete ecosystem from the manufacture to assembly, test and qualification, to delivery and maintenance of the complete lifecycle of the aircraft, a statement said.
Apart from Tatas, leading defence public sector units such as Bharat Electronics Ltd. and Bharat Dynamics Ltd, as well as private Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will contribute to this programme.
Earlier in October 2022, Prime Minister Modi had laid the foundation stone for the Vadodara Final Assembly Line (FAL).
Later, PM Modi and the Spanish President will hold delegation level talks in at Lukshmi Niwas Palace, Vadodara, covering the entire range of bilateral relations. They will also exchange their views on global developments.
A number of MoUs/ Agreements are expected to be signed during the visit which will give a fillip to bilateral cooperation.
EAM S. Jaishankar will call on President Sanchez during his visit.
President Sanchez will also visit Mumbai where, apart from official engagements, he will interact with trade and industry leaders, think tanks and the film industry.
President Sanchez will address the 4th Spain India Forum organized by the Spain India Council
Foundation and the Observer Research Foundation. He will visit prominent film studios where he will interact with leading celebrities of Indian movie industries, with the aim of fostering greater collaboration between the Indian and Spanish media & entertainment industry.
The visit underscores the importance attached by both countries to their bilateral partnership and the consistent upward trajectory of India-Spain relations in trade, investment, defence cooperation, education, technology, tourism, culture, and people to people ties.
Spain is a constitutional monarchy with King Felipe VI as the current Head of State.
In the Spanish system, the Head of the Government, the Prime Minister-equivalent, is called the President of the Government.
This is the first visit by a Spanish President to India in 18 years. The last visit to India by a Spanish President took place in 2006 when President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero visited India.
King Juan Carlos I visited India in 2012 on a state visit.
Prime Minister Modi visited Spain in 2017.
PM Modi and President Sanchez have previously held meetings at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires in 2018 and in Rome in 2021. PM Modi and President Sanchez spoke on the telephone on 15th Feb 2023.
The trade relations between the two countries are robust and growing. Bilateral trade stood at 9.9 billion USD in 2023, with India exporting 7.17 billion USD and importing 2.74 billion USD.
Spain is the 16th largest investor in India with cumulative FDI stock of USD 4.2 billion (April 2000- June 2024).
There are more than 230 Spanish companies active in India and around 80 Indian companies in Spain.
The Indian diaspora in Spain is 75,000 strong, and is concentrated in Catalonia, Valencia, Madrid, and the Canary Islands. The Consulate General of India, Barcelona has been operationalized while Spain plans to open its consulate in Bengaluru in the near future.
