India's Ambitious Leap: Can It Build Its Own Passenger Jets?

Wed Jan 07 2026 08:09:03 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

With soaring demand for air travel and delays from major manufacturers, India explores the possibility of manufacturing its own aircraft, beginning with the SJ-100 model in collaboration with Russia.

India's aviation sector is booming, but with major plane manufacturers facing delivery backlogs, the country is considering building its own passenger jets. A recent agreement with Russia to manufacture the SJ-100 could be a game-changer, though significant challenges remain. Experts question the feasibility of the deal amidst concerns over production capabilities and past failures in domestic aircraft manufacturing.

India is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets.

IndiGo and Air India, which together hold over 90% of the market, have ordered nearly 1,500 planes over the next decade, highlighting soaring passenger demand.

This expansion hinges on Boeing and Airbus, which together supply 86% of the world's aircraft and faced historically high delivery backlogs in 2024 - delays expected to affect Indian orders too.

This has revived an old question: should India try to build its own passenger planes?

The prospect drew attention in October, when India and Russia signed an initial agreement in Moscow to manufacture the SJ-100 passenger plane in India, raising hopes for domestic aircraft production.

But is the Russia deal a solution? Its joint manufacturing plan still faces many hurdles before coming to fruition.

The SJ-100 is a twin-engine aircraft that can carry up to 103 passengers and is already in service with several Russian airlines, according to its manufacturer, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).

Delhi has described the aircraft as a game changer and plans to use it for short-haul routes. But experts have questioned the project's cost and feasibility - much of which is still unclear.

One of the biggest concerns is whether the Russian firm would be able to rapidly set up and scale production in India.

India has long aimed to build passenger aircraft domestically but has achieved only limited success.

Aviation experts say aircraft manufacturing in India has faced hurdles for a long time now. Dr Abhay Pashilkar, director of NAL, points to the lack of large domestic demand until recently, along with a shortage of highly skilled manpower and a small domestic manufacturing ecosystem, holding back growth.

The SJ-100 project might seem promising, but with so many variables at play, only time will tell if India can truly become a manufacturer of passenger jets.