A model of the H125 helicopter that Tata and Airbus will jointly assemble in Vemagal, Karnataka. (Photo: MoD)
New Delhi: The prime minister, Narendra Modi, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, virtually inaugurated India’s first private-sector helicopter final assembly line, on Tuesday. This marks a significant expansion of the country’s defence and aerospace manufacturing capabilities.
The facility, established by Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) in partnership with Airbus Helicopters, at Karnataka’s Vemagal will manufacture the H125 light utility helicopter for both civil and military applications.
The virtual ceremony was conducted from Mumbai, with senior officials from both countries attending the event at the Vemagal facility, including the defence minister, Rajnath Singh; the French minister of the armed forces and veterans affairs; Catherine Vautrin, the civil aviation minister, KR Naidu; and Karnataka’s minister for large and medium industries, MB Patil.
Strategic partnership milestone
Singh described the assembly line as a milestone in India-France strategic ties and the second major collaboration between TASL and Airbus, following the C295 military transport aircraft final assembly line inaugurated in Vadodara, Gujarat, in October 2024. The C295 facility is producing 56 aircraft for the Indian Air Force, with 40 units being manufactured domestically under the “Make in India” initiative.
“Our collaboration with France is limitless, where even sky is not a limit to our mutually beneficial partnership,” Singh said, emphasizing the government’s commitment to achieving self-reliance in critical technologies through partnerships with friendly nations. The H125 programme is expected to exceed ₹1,000 crore in investment and create substantial direct and indirect employment opportunities.
N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, said the facility represents “a landmark step in the nation’s journey towards self-reliance in aerospace and defence” and reflects the growing depth of India’s industrial capabilities. Bruno Even, chief executive of Airbus Helicopters, called the inauguration “a defining step towards India’s civil and defence sovereignty when it comes to vertical lift capabilities.”
Technical capabilities
The H125, part of Airbus’s Écureuil family, is the world’s bestselling single-engine helicopter and has accumulated more than 40 million flight hours globally. It remains the only helicopter to have landed on Mount Everest’s summit, giving it a performance ceiling that exceeds existing light utility fleets – a critical advantage for Indian military operations in challenging high-altitude environments.
The helicopter can carry one pilot and six passengers or two pilots and four passengers, with a maximum take-off weight of 2,370 kilograms and a fast cruise speed of 252 kilometres per hour. Its operational ceiling reaches 7,010 metres, with a maximum range of 630 kilometres.
The military variant, H125M, is optimized for high-altitude operations across reconnaissance, surveillance, logistics support to remote outposts, and search and rescue missions, leveraging low acoustic and thermal signatures. The civil version will support emergency medical services, disaster management, law enforcement, and regional connectivity under the government’s UDAN scheme for last-mile tourism and passenger transport.
Manufacturing and export plans
The Vemagal facility will undertake manufacturing, integration, testing and maintenance of the rotary-wing platform, ensuring Indian operators have access to localized lifecycle support. The first India-made H125 is expected for delivery in early 2027 and will be available for export across South Asia.
Singh highlighted that private sector participation in India’s defence production now accounts for nearly a quarter of total output, while defence exports have increased significantly, placing India among the world’s top defence exporters. The country’s defence exports reached ₹23,622 crore in financial year 2024-25, which represents a roughly 30-fold increase compared to 2013-14 levels.
Airbus currently sources components and services worth over $1.5 billion annually from India, including complex aerostructures and systems, reinforcing the country’s expanding role in the company’s global supply chain. Singh noted that over 16,000 MSMEs and ancillary units now support the defence sector, with numerous foreign companies sourcing components from Indian suppliers.
The defence minister invited companies to deepen partnerships through technology transfer and advanced solutions to meet security needs domestically and in other countries. The Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh; the defence secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh; and the secretary for defence production, Sanjeev Kumar, attended the inauguration.
