India and France strengthen aerospace ties, inks pact for bilateral cooperation

New Delhi: A delegation of over 100 representatives from 60 French companies arrived in New Delhi on Monday to strengthen cooperation with India in the aerospace industry. Led by the French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS), the delegation will meet with various Indian companies between October 7 and 10.

This includes prime contractors to start-ups, covering the civil, defense, and space sectors of the French aerospace industry, as stated by GIFAS in a press release.

India already hosts over 60 companies that are members of GIFAS, with more than 30 industrial sites operational in the country. The areas of focus within this cooperation include training, innovation, and decarbonization efforts in the aerospace sector.

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The visiting delegation met at the France-India seminar at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mansingh Road, followed by a press conference. The seminar was attended by Guillaume Faury, chairman of GIFAS and CEO of Airbus, Frederic Parisot, CEO of GIFAS, and French Ambassador to India Thierry Mathou.

The India delegation, with 160 representatives, was led by Union Minister of Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu. Representatives from the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and the Indian Space Association, discussed opportunities for collaboration. These organizations are key partners for GIFAS in India and represent India’s growing aerospace industry.

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Last year’s collaboration between India and France was marked by the signing of multiple memoranda of understanding (MoUs) during an event attended by a delegation of 28 French companies. Key outcomes included an agreement between Skyroot Aerospace and Prométhée Earth Intelligence, a French operator of earth observation satellite constellations, to provide launch services using Skyroot’s Vikram rockets.

Another MoU involved a partnership between Expleo and ConnectSAT to establish the OSIRIS satellite constellation, with Expleo providing reconfigurable software for ConnectSAT’s Internet of Things satellite, scheduled for launch aboard Vikram-I.

Additionally, India’s National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) signed a MoU with satellite connectivity provider Kinéis to enhance satellite ground station infrastructure, improving real-time data reception from ocean observing platforms in the Indian Ocean. In a significant move, ISPA and GIFAS also signed a MoU to further strengthen their six-decade-long collaboration in the space sector.

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