India is becoming a key player in international aerospace, with European aviation giant Airbus drastically increasing its procurement of aircraft parts and services from Indian suppliers. Airbus said in 2025 that it is procuring more than $1 billion of components a year from over 100 Indian suppliers, and plans to raise this to $2 billion by 2030.
Strategic Partnership and Expanding Market
The increase demonstrates Airbus’s increasing faith in India’s huge engineering capabilities, low-cost production, and its thriving domestic aviation industry. India presently has more than 700 Airbus aircraft in operation, and with more than 1,300 bookings by Indian carriers like IndiGo and Air India, the aviation sector in India is expanding very fast, making local sourcing commercially attractive as well as strategically advantageous.
Types of Components and Collaborations
Airbus sources a wide array of components from India, such as aircraft doors, avionics, wiring harnesses, and cabin and fuselage components. Partnerships with Indian industrial giants like Tata Group, Mahindra Group, and Dynamatic Technologies reflect the confidence Airbus has in Indian engineering and system integration skills. Particularly, Tata Group collaborates with Airbus on the Final Assembly Line (FAL) for the C295 military transport aircraft, located in Vadodara, a shining example of deepening interactions.
Investment in R&D and Skill Development
Besides manufacturing, Airbus is setting up a Centre of Excellence for research and development at Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya in Vadodara, demonstrating its investment in India’s innovation and talent pool. The aviation giant has more than 3,600 employees in India, with a vast talent pool of skilled IT professionals aiding technology and software development for aircraft systems.
Challenges and Future Outlook
Though Airbus’s commitment is firm, issues still exist in terms of more skilled professionals in the area of systems integration, supply chain stability, and compliance with international standards of quality among suppliers. To address these, Airbus is engaged in supplier training, certification, and joint ventures to boost infrastructure and capacity.
The path to $2 billion of annual procurement by 2030 is a milestone for India’s aerospace sector. As the nation enhances its role as a center for manufacturing and engineering across the world, Airbus’s increased presence assures enduring economic value, technological gains, and the possibility for India to become a key part of the company’s international supply chain.
In short, India is not only a growing market for Airbus aircraft but is fast becoming a key hub for aerospace manufacturing, R&D, and supply chain excellence in the global aviation value chain.
