By T N Ashok
For decades, India’s rise as an economic power has been measured by the number of aircraft it buys rather than the number it builds. The country has become one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, one of the largest importers of military hardware and, increasingly, one of the biggest customers for global aerospace giants Boeing and Airbus.
Yet Prime Minister Narendra Modi now wants to change that equation fundamentally. Speaking recently about India’s future in civil aviation and defence manufacturing, Modi reiterated his government’s commitment to making India self-reliant in sectors that have long depended on foreign technology. The ambition goes far beyond producing more military equipment. It envisions an India that designs, manufactures and eventually exports commercial aircraft, defence platforms, advanced electronics and surveillance systems while becoming a global aerospace manufacturing hub.
It is one of the most ambitious industrial transformations attempted since India’s economic liberalisation in 1991. Whether it succeeds may determine whether India remains one of the world’s biggest buyers of high technology or joins the small club of nations that actually produce it.
The timing is hardly accidental. India’s civil aviation industry is expanding at a pace unmatched almost anywhere in the world. Rising incomes, rapid urbanisation and an expanding middle class have transformed flying from a luxury into an everyday mode of transport for millions. Domestic air travel has grown steadily over the past decade, while international travel is rebounding strongly as Indian carriers rebuild their global networks.
That growth has produced an unprecedented shopping spree. IndiGo, India’s largest airline, has placed orders approaching 1,000 Airbus aircraft, making it one of the airline industry’s largest customers. Air India, under the Tata Group, has embarked on an equally dramatic transformation, ordering about 570 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing in what aviation analysts describe as one of the largest fleet renewal programmes ever undertaken.
The workhorses of India’s domestic skies remain Airbus A320 and A321 family aircraft, complemented by Boeing 737 MAX jets. Long-haul international routes are increasingly served by Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Boeing 777s and the new Airbus A350s as Indian airlines compete with Gulf and Asian carriers for global passengers.
Yet almost every one of these aircraft is imported. That contradiction lies at the heart of Modi’s vision. India may soon become one of the world’s three largest aviation markets, but it remains almost entirely dependent on overseas manufacturers for the aircraft carrying its passengers.
The challenge extends beyond airlines. India’s airport infrastructure has expanded dramatically over the past decade, with dozens of new airports opening under the government’s regional connectivity programme. Major hubs such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad have been modernised, while entirely new airports at Navi Mumbai and Jewar near Delhi are expected to handle tens of millions of passengers annually.
By the end of this decade, India expects to accommodate hundreds of millions more passenger journeys each year, requiring hundreds of additional aircraft, thousands of pilots, engineers and maintenance specialists, and billions of dollars in airport investment. Building airports, however, is easier than building airplanes.
Commercial aircraft manufacturing remains one of the world’s most technologically demanding industries. Designing an airliner requires not only sophisticated engineering but also years of safety certification, global maintenance networks, pilot training systems and highly integrated supply chains involving thousands of precision manufacturers. Only a handful of companies worldwide have mastered that ecosystem.
India has achieved considerable success in military aerospace. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) manufactures the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter, the Light Combat Helicopter and several trainer aircraft while producing military aircraft under licence. Indian companies also manufacture components for Airbus, Boeing and numerous global aerospace suppliers. But India has yet to produce a commercially successful passenger aircraft capable of competing with the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 families that dominate world aviation.
That explains why many industry observers believe India’s immediate objective is unlikely to be replacing Airbus or Boeing with indigenous aircraft. Instead, New Delhi appears to be pursuing a more realistic strategy: persuading global manufacturers to shift more of their production, component manufacturing, engineering and maintenance operations into India while gradually expanding domestic capabilities in design and assembly.
Such an approach mirrors China’s long-term aerospace strategy, which began with licensed production and component manufacturing before progressing towards indigenous commercial aircraft programmes.
The defence sector presents a somewhat different picture. Historically, India has ranked among the world’s largest importers of arms. During the Cold War and for decades afterwards, the Soviet Union and later Russia supplied much of India’s military inventory, including MiG and Sukhoi fighter aircraft, T-72 and T-90 tanks, submarines and missile systems. Over the past twenty years, India has deliberately diversified its suppliers.
France has emerged as a key partner through the Rafale fighter aircraft and Scorpene submarine programme. The United States now supplies C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft, C-130J tactical transports, P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft, Apache attack helicopters and Chinook heavy-lift helicopters. Israel has become one of India’s principal partners in drones, radar systems, surveillance technologies and missile defence. This diversification reflects both geopolitical realities and India’s desire to avoid excessive dependence on any single supplier.
Yet importing advanced military equipment carries strategic risks. Wars, sanctions or diplomatic tensions can disrupt supplies of spare parts, ammunition and upgrades precisely when they are needed most. That lesson has become increasingly apparent as global conflicts expose vulnerabilities in international supply chains.
Consequently, India’s drive for defence self-reliance is as much about national security as industrial policy. Already, India manufactures the Akash air defence missile, the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, the Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher, the Arjun main battle tank, advanced artillery systems, warships, submarines, electronic warfare equipment and an expanding range of drones. Private defence companies have also entered a sector once dominated almost entirely by state-owned enterprises.
The next phase envisages far greater domestic production of surveillance equipment, electronic warfare systems, battlefield communications, artificial intelligence-enabled weapons, cyber defence technologies, unmanned aerial vehicles, advanced armoured vehicles and eventually aero-engines—one of the most complex technologies that India still largely imports.
Success, however, will require more than government declarations. India’s state-owned aerospace industry has often been criticised for lengthy development cycles, cost overruns and bureaucratic decision-making. Projects have frequently taken decades to mature, allowing foreign competitors to stay technologically ahead. If India hopes to become a genuine aerospace manufacturing power, it will need deeper collaboration between public enterprises, private industry, universities, start-ups and international technology partners.
Equally important will be creating an ecosystem capable of supporting global manufacturing standards. Aerospace demands extraordinary precision, uncompromising quality control and reliable supply chains. Building a world-class aircraft involves not merely assembling metal and electronics but integrating thousands of highly specialised components certified to exacting international standards.
That ecosystem cannot be created overnight. Nevertheless, India’s advantages are substantial. It possesses one of the world’s largest engineering workforces, a rapidly expanding domestic market, competitive manufacturing costs and increasing geopolitical importance as global companies seek alternatives to concentrated supply chains elsewhere in Asia.
For Modi, therefore, self-reliance does not necessarily mean replacing every imported aircraft or weapon with an Indian equivalent tomorrow. Rather, it represents a long-term strategy to ensure that an increasing share of the value generated by India’s enormous demand for aviation and defence remains within the country—in its factories, laboratories, supply chains and export industries.
Whether India ultimately produces its own globally competitive passenger aircraft remains uncertain. But if the country succeeds in transforming itself from one of the world’s largest aerospace customers into one of its significant manufacturers, it would mark one of the most consequential industrial shifts in modern Indian history. The world’s fastest-growing aviation market would no longer merely buy aircraft from abroad. It would increasingly help build them. (IPA Service)
