Airbus should consider opening an assembly plant in India: Praful Patel

Le Bourget, France: With orders from Indian carriers piling up, including a fairly spectacular one from Kingfisher Airlines today, Indian civil aviation minister, Praful Patel has said that he has asked European airframe maker, Airbus, to consider setting up an assembly line in the country.

The invitation from the minister has come even as Kingfisher Airlines signed more than $7 billion in provisional new orders for Airbus aircraft, including 15 A350XWB models, the much-touted rival to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

The offer for an assembly line in India would expect Airbus to match the offer it made to China, when it agreed to set up an assembly line for the A320 family in that country to match strong demand. The resurgence in the Indian aviation market, if anything, has been even more spectacular.

"I would be very happy to see that," Patel told reporters, when asked whether Airbus should consider opening an assembly line in India. "I mentioned it to them yesterday. India is one of the largest markets in the next 10 years."

He said Airbus had told him it was studying the Indian market closely.