Legacy Falcon 2000 Components To Be Made in India

Components for legacy Dassault Falcon 2000s will be made in India starting in the first quarter of next year, when a Dassault Aviation and Reliance Aerospace joint-venture facility opens in Nagpur. Dassault chairman Eric Trappier and Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani recently laid the foundation stone for the Dassault Reliance Aerospace manufacturing facility at the Dhirubhai Ambani Technology Park, which sits adjacent to Nagpur International Airport.

Under the joint-venture—in which India-based Reliance holds a 51 percent majority share—the facility will manufacture several components of the offset obligation connected to India’s purchase of 36 Rafale fighters from France, a deal that was signed in September 2016. Dassault’s foreign direct investment (FDI) of more than €100 million ($116 million) is the largest such defense FDI in one location in India, the companies said.

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After the facility gains expertise in manufacturing unspecified components for legacy Falcon 2000 business jets, it could possibly expand capabilities to include final assembly of Rafale fighters and Falcon business jets, Dassault said. The French aircraft manufacturer did not specify which Falcon models might be assembled in India, nor did it provide a timeline for when this might occur.