India is taking major steps to expand civil aviation. Several airlines of the country are going to make important agreements with Moscow before the BRICS conference. Under the proposed deal, 105 regional passenger aircraft will be purchased from Russian aircraft manufacturers.
The IL-114-300 is produced by United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) of Russia as a regional passenger aircraft. It is believed that Indian airlines can tie up with this Russian aircraft manufacturer in the agreement between the two countries. UAC CEO Vadim Badekha said significant progress has been made in discussions with Indian partners in the last six months. A number of deals are likely to be finalized during the 'Inoprom India' exhibition to be held in New Delhi.
The proposed contracts include 50 IL-114-300 aircraft for Pinnacle Air, up to 20 aircraft for Air Kerala and another 35 aircraft under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with Slick Aviation. Note that UAC signed an agreement with the Indian company 'Flamingo Aerospace' for the supply of six IL 114-300 aircraft last January. The agreement was signed by both parties during the 'Wings India' aviation exhibition held in Hyderabad.
Russia is eyeing India as an aircraft manufacturing and sales hub. According to UAC information, negotiations for local (on Indian soil) production of the SJ-100 regional jet are about 80 percent complete. An agreement in this regard is expected to be signed soon.