The India-EU FTA eliminates tariffs on plane and spacecraft for nearly all merchandise, together with plane elements and elements, engines, avionics, touchdown gear, upkeep, restore and overhaul (MRO) inputs, which might supply solely restricted beneficial properties to the European spare elements suppliers.
As such, American plane maker Boeing doesn’t count on the recently-concluded India-EU FTA to materially have an effect on its upkeep and restore operations in India, although the pact might marginally decrease prices for its European rival Airbus.
“The truth is that the duties had been already capped at 5%, for many elements coming in for MRO and restore upkeep functions already, by the federal government. So, I’m unsure whether or not that discount essentially issues from an MRO standpoint,” Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India and South Asia, informed Mint in an interview at Wings India 2026 in Hyderabad.
He was responding to a query on whether or not decrease duties for European producers might give Airbus a price benefit in India.
“The place it would matter is for issues like Airbus’s C295 remaining meeting line or one thing like that. And so, we’ll must see how that evolves over time. However I feel it’s too early to inform,” he stated.
The Airbus C295 remaining meeting line (FAL) in Vadodara, inaugurated in October 2024is just not for industrial aviation, however quite a devoted facility for navy and defence manufacturing. Operated by Tata Superior Methods Ltd (TASL) and Airbus, this facility is assembling 40 C295 tactical transport plane for the Indian Air Pressure (IAF) to switch their legacy Avro fleet, with the primary “Made in India” unit scheduled for 2026.
“No affect on plane and element procurement costs. Zero tariff for line for line objects,” Jürgen Westermeier, president and managing director—India and South Asia, Airbus, stated.
Beneath the FTA, import duties on civil plane and associated elements, presently at 11% in some classes, are anticipated to be phased down over a number of years. This might, in principle, decrease acquisition prices for European-made plane and elements, doubtlessly strengthening Airbus’s pricing place in India.
Airbus already dominates India’s narrow-body industrial plane market. IndiGo, the nation’s largest airline, has an all-Airbus fleet.
In 2025, Airbus delivered 55 jets to IndiGoits largest buyer globally. As compared, different Indian carriers had taken supply of 19 Boeing plane in 2025.
Gupte stated that Boeing expects to keep up a gradual supply tempo to Indian airways “over the subsequent couple of years”.
Boeing has already ramped up manufacturing at its US services, with narrow-body plane output rising to 42 a month from 38 and set to extend additional to 47 quickly. Broad-body plane manufacturing can even be elevated to 10 a month from the present seven, in a transfer anticipated to hurry up plane deliveries.
“On common, you may count on, over the subsequent couple years, roughly two plane a month. And in some months it’ll be extra, and a few months it’ll be much less, and a few months there’ll be a wide-body plane in there as nicely,” Gupte stated.
Close to-term deliveries to Indian airways will largely encompass narrow-body plane, although wide-body ones shall be inducted periodically.
“It’ll largely be slender our bodies. Each few months, you’ll have a large physique in there as nicely,” he stated.
He clarified that this isn’t a hard and fast month-to-month goal.
“The charges on all of our manufacturing strains have been shifting up over the previous couple years. So, we had been at 38 a month on the 737 MAX. We moved to 42. We are able to transfer to 47 and past. Now, on the 787 line, we’ve already introduced objectives to go from 7 to 10 and past,” he stated.
The manufacturing ramp-up would assist the Air India group (Air India and Air India Specific) and Akasa Air scale up their fleets.
Gupte, nonetheless, didn’t title any airline.
Lately, Air India inducted a Dreamliner (wide-body plane) whereas Air India Specific inducted its first line-fit jet (custom-made for the corporate) from Boeing. Akasa is inducting two narrow-body jets.
Air India will induct a brand new wide-body plane each six weeks in 2026 and 2027, which, alongside the refurbishment of its legacy Boeing fleet, its chief government Campbell Wilson stated in October 2025.
The three Indian carriers have collectively positioned orders for almost 1,000 jets between the 2 plane makers—Boeing and Airbus.
Over a 20-year interval, Boeing estimates that “for the Indian, South Asia area, about 3,300 plane” will enter the market. “That’s roughly a quadrupling of the Indian fleet over that interval as nicely. So, a few of these plane shall be for alternative. Lots of these plane shall be for progress, naturally.”
IndiGo has a fleet measurement of 440, as towards Air India Group’s (Air India and Air India Specific collectively) 297 and Akasa’s 32.
Gupte stated Boeing has been investing in coaching infrastructure to assist this progress in India. “We made $100 million funding in simulator capability over the previous 12 months and a half or so,” the chief stated, including that simulators for each 737 MAX and 787 plane have been inducted in India.
The corporate can also be targeted on constructing upkeep and restore capability domestically. “We additionally want vital upkeep. And so we’ve been concerned with our airline prospects on upkeep coaching functionality in India,” he stated. This consists of encouraging the event of home MRO ecosystems.
“You see that (MROs) beginning to are available in with Safran, organising an engine store for the CFM LEAP engine right here in Hyderabad,” he stated.
Nonetheless, Boeing doesn’t have any instant plans to have a remaining meeting line right here in India.
The CFM Worldwide LEAP engine is a next-generation industrial plane jet engine, produced by CFM Worldwide, a 50:50 three way partnership between America’s GE Aerospace and France’s Safran Plane Engines.
On plane manufacturing, Gupte downplayed the strategic significance of ultimate meeting alone. “Remaining meeting is about 7% of the worth chain. There’s the opposite 93% that many people, ourselves, Airbus, Lockheed, have been targeted on creating right here in India,” he stated.
Boeing’s provider base in India now consists of over 300 companies, he stated. “That could be a enormous a part of being able to make airplanes in India,” Gupte stated, including that element manufacturing and superior supplies matter excess of meeting strains in figuring out long-term competitiveness.