The IAF has floated global tenders to procure 56 medium transport aircraft worth over Rs 1,200 crore to replace ageing Avros which are in service for the last 40 years.
While 16 aircraft will be bought off the shelf from the selected vendor, the remaining 40 will be manufactured by Indian private sector here through transfer of technology agreement.
Giving details of the tender or request for proposal(RFP) issued on Wednesday, officials said here on Thursday this is the first time that the Indian private sector will play a major role in manufacturing of a state of the art aircraft. Incidentally, the Avros are likely to be phased out in the next five to six years.
Global giants including Airbus, Embraer and Casa besides five or six other manufacturers will take part in the bidding, they said adding the competitors can resond to the RFP in five months instead of three months as they will have to select an Indian partner.
The Indian manufacturer will have immense scope to expand as he will be allowed to sell aircraft produced here to civilian market especially in the wake of growing air connectivity between regional cities.