Adani Group, Embraer to make commercial planes in India
Adani Group and Brazilian aerospace major Embraer are set to announce next week the plan to set up a final assembly line for civilian aircraft in India, a significant push for the efforts to make planes in the country. India is one of the world’s fastest growing civil aviation markets and air traffic demand is rising, with airlines expanding their fleets and new airports coming up.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) wil be inked by executives of Adani Defence and Aerospace, and Embraer in the presence of Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on January 27 in the national capital. The plan is for setting up the Final Assembly Line (FAL) for making Embraer jets in the country, according to sources.
Embraer makes commercial jets with up to 150 seats. With the FAL, Adani Group, which already has good presence in the fast-growing Indian aviation space, will be making its foray into building aircraft in India. One of the sources said that in due course after the operationalisation of the FAL, Adani Group is also likely to start manufacturing the aircraft components.
In an invitation sent out jointly by the two companies for a media briefing in the national capital on January 27, they said “a historic development in India’s commercial aviation ‘Make in India’s journey will be announced”. Seeking to capitalise on the huge growth opportunities in the Indian market, Embraer, in October 2025, opened its new office in the national capital.
The venture with the Adani Group will be a major fillip for the Brazilian major in India’s civil aviation space where it aims to provide cost-competitiveness with its regional jets. Currently, Embraer, whose E-Jets began operations in India in 2005, has nearly 50 aircraft in the country serving the Indian Air Force, Government agencies, business jet operators and commercial airline Star Air.
The Indian market is expected to require at least 500 aircraft in the 80-146 seat range over the next 20 years, Embraer said in a release on January 21. In 2024, Embraer Defense & Security and Mahindra Defence Systems inked an MoU to evaluate the opportunity to jointly pursue the Indian Air Force’s Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) programme with the C-390 Millennium.
The company is looking to strengthen its presence in the country’s commercial aviation, defence, business aviation, services and support, and urban air mobility segments. The Government is also working on ways to boost civilian aerospace manufacturing as maintenance activities in the country. In November 2025, French major Safran said its maintenance, repair and overhaul facility for the LEAP engines will be operational this year.
