New Delhi, Sep 24: Tata group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata today said that the Tata-Airbus deal to make C-295 aircraft is a great step towards opening up aviation and avionics projects in India.

“The clearance of the joint project between Airbus Defence and Tata Advanced Systems to build the C-295 is a great step forward in the opening up of aviation and avionics projects in India,” Ratan Tata said in a statement.

“The C-295 is a multi-role aircraft with several reconfigurations to meet mission requirements. It envisages the total manufacturing of aircraft in India. It will create a domestic supply chain capability of international standards, which has never been undertaken before,” he said.

The comments came after Defence Ministry signed the deal for procuring fifty-six C-295 aircraft from Airbus, under which 16 to be procured in fly-away condition, and 40 will be made in India by a consortium of Airbus and Tata.

The deal was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security on September 8. (UNI)