NEW DELHI, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Billionaire Gautam Adani’s aerospace and defense business and Brazilian company Embraer () will announce a partnership next week to assemble commercial aircraft in India, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, boosting that country’s civil aviation industry.
Assembling aircraft in India will represent a significant victory for the Indian government, which has long encouraged plane makers to produce jets domestically, citing more than 1,500 aircraft orders from Indian airlines. So far, planemakers have resisted, arguing, in part, that economic viability was not evident.
According to the source, Adani Aerospace signed a memorandum of understanding with Embraer, the third largest aircraft manufacturer in the world behind Airbus and Boeing, to set up a final assembly line for its regional jets in India.
Opportunity with security!
Adani Aerospace and Embraer sent out invitations to the press on Tuesday, promising a ‘historic’ development in commercial aviation. The announcement will be made at the headquarters of the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation, according to the invitation.
Embraer declined to comment, while Adani Aerospace and India’s Civil Aviation Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The agreement was previously reported by The Times of India.
In India, around 50 Embraer aircraft of various types operate, including civil aircraft from the regional airline Star Air. This fleet is much smaller than that of Airbus and Boeing aircraft, which dominate the order books of Indian airlines.
Embraer, which opened an office in New Delhi last year, predicts the South Asian country will need at least 500 aircraft with capacities between 80 and 146 seats over the next 20 years.
(Reportage by Aditya Kalra, Abhijith Ganapavaram and Dhwani Pandya)
