♦ Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez inaugurated the Tata Advanced System Limited-Airbus facility to manufacture C-295 military aircraft in India on 28 October 2024.

♦ The facility in Gujarat’s Vadodara city is the first private sector final assembly line for military aircraft in India. 

♦ A total of 56 aircraft 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.

♦ The C-295 aircraft will replace IAF's HS-748 Avro fleet and is the first instance of the private sector manufacturing a military aircraft in India, breaking the virtual monopoly of defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics.

♦ Modi had laid the foundation stone for the Vadodara final assembly line in October 2022.