Русский
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a subsidiary of Rostec, will be ready to begin arranging exports of Il-114-300 to India after the program for localizing production in the country is approved, according to UAC CEO Vadim Badekha.
Speaking at Innoprom Delhi, he said that “At present, the key task which we are concentrating on is finalizing our agreements on the production of the aircraft here in India. As soon as this is resolved – which we expect to be in the next few months – we will proceed immediately to producing and supplying them.”
He also said that the first aircraft to be supplied to Indian airlines would be produced in Russia, “as the localization process is rather lengthy. In connection with this, it is very important that the Russian type certificate for the Il-114-300 is validated in India.”
Although Russia will initially export the aircraft with assistance from Indian engineers in Russia, down the line it is expected that future Il-114-300’s will be manufactured, under licence from UAC, in India itself. Highlighting this cooperation, Peeyush Kumar Aggarwal, the CEO of Omkam Aviation said that “We have signed a Letter of Intent to purchase 50 of these aircraft. The first batch of six will be built in Russia, following which the technology and a production line will be transferred to India. This will be the first major plant for civil aircraft production in the country.” Aggarwal said the initial investment was about US$156 million. Russia’s Sberbank are believed to be assisting with the financing.
The Ilyushin Il-114 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed by the Ilyushin design bureau. The proposed deals include plans for 50 IL-114-300 aircraft for Pinnacle Air, up to 20 aircraft for Air Kerala and another 35 aircraft linked to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sleek Aviation.
