Dassault-Reliance Aerospace Park: Foundation Stone of Project to be Laid in Nagpur on Friday

The much-touted Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park (DAAP) at Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) will manufacture aircraft components for the Indian and the global market.

New Delhi, October 27: In a major push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative, French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation and Anil Ambani-led Reliance Aerospace Ltd will lay the foundation stone of the aerospace park on Friday, a top official of Reliance Aerospace said. With this, the much-touted Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park (DAAP) at Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) will manufacture aircraft components for the Indian and the global market.

The Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park (DAAP) is being set up in the city’s Mihaan Special Economic Zone. As per reports, French Defence Minister Florence Parlay, top officials of Dassualt Aviation and Chairman of Reliance Group Anil D Ambani are scheduled to attend the event in Nagpur on Friday. A large number of Indian MSMEs are also expected to set up facilities at DAAP.

Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park:

1. The Dhirubhai Ambani Aerospace Park is spread over 289 acres and is touted to be the largest greenfield aerospace project in India.
2. The joint venture is being set up as part of Dassault’s offset obligations for the Rs. 58,000 crore deal to supply 36 Rafale fighter jets to India. The deal was signed in September last year.
3. The Rafale combat aircraft will come with various India-specific modifications.
4. It will be the leading entity to execute the Rafale offset programme.
5. The Dassault–Reliance partnership will bring in not only high-level transfer of technology but also help develop the eco-system of the domestic aerospace sector and feed into the global supply chain.

According to an official, the aerospace park- DAAP will have assembly lines and manufacturing facilities for fixed wing aircraft. It is also believed to produce aircraft components for global markets. The Dassault–Reliance JV has already shortlisted large number of vendors, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, to be part of the supply chain at DAAP. As per sources aware of the development, the production at the facility is expected to start in the first quarter of 2018, phase one will be fully operational by the third quarter of 2018.