Indian Railways’ Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) Vadodara and Airbus sign agreement for aerospace teaching and research

Indian Railways’ Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) Vadodara and Airbus today entered into collaboration to significantly strengthen the Indian aviation sector. Following up on the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed in September 2023, a definitive agreement was signed at Rail Bhawan, New Delhi between Mr. Rémi Maillard (President and Managing Director, AIRBUS India and South Asia) and Prof. Manoj Choudhary (Vice-Chancellor, Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya).

The agreement was signed in the presence of Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and IT who is also the First Chancellor of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, Shri Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Ravneet Singh, Minister of State for Railways, Ms. Jaya Varma Sinha, the Chairman and CEO, Railway Board, Shri Vumlunmang Vualnam, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and senior officials of the Railway Board. The agreement includes a full scholarship program for 40 GSV students for the entire program duration, setting up the Centre of Excellence at GSV as well as the Airbus Aviation Chair Professor position at GSV. Further, GSV and Airbus will partner for executive training for working professionals in the aviation sector.

Speaking on this occasion, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Today marks the conversion from MoU to actual action. Congratulations to GSV and AIRBUS. Whatever has been promised is delivered, that is one of the biggest marks of Prime Minister Modi ji government. Again in the spirit of Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas as our Prime Minister says, there has to be development of Aviation, Highways, Railways, Road Transportation. Practically, everything has to go together. We will keep on collaborating with all in the spirit of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas. The reason why GSV was established was to have a focussed and specialized institution which caters to all sectors of transportation, we started with Railways, we gradually moved to manufacturing, next sector we moved onto is Civil Aviation, the next sector planned is Ministry of Shipping and Logistics. Again, we will start in a focussed way, one program from that sector. Then, we will move to other sectors in transportation.”

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said, “I am happy that MoU is being signed with Airbus. Civil Aviation is the fastest-growing sector in India. In the last ten years, Airports have nearly doubled from 74 airports to 157 airports now , Udaan scheme has brought Tier II and Tier III cities on the map of aviation. We will continue to take mentorship of Railways. The Ministry of Civil Aviation will fully collaborate and support Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya for the progress of aviation sector and that GSV should prepare to launch Masters and Ph.D programs”.

Shri Ravneet Singh addressed the gathering and congratulated GSV and AIRBUS for signing MoU. He said that this initiative will witness an increase in job creation and will prevent brain drain from our country.

“Today Airbus in India has about 3,500 full time employees, most of them engineers and digital professionals. We support an additional 15,000 jobs in our supply chain in India. Our sourcing from India stands at more than $1 billion a year, which we look to double in the coming years.We are building not one but two Final Assembly Lines: One for the C295 military aircraft in the home of GSV, i.e, Vadodara and the other for the H125 helicopter, for which we are scouting for a site. The C295 programme will support 25,000 direct and indirect jobs in India. We are developing the Airbus India Training Centre in Gurgaon along with Air India to train about 5,000 pilots over the next 10 years”  said Rémi Maillard, President and Managing Director, Airbus in India and South Asia.

Prof. Manoj Choudhary, Vice Chancellor – GSV highlighted “This pioneering partnership with Airbus shall significantly advance GSV’s vision to be Industry-driven and Innovation-led university and also defines a template for industry-academia collaboration in India. We are thankful to Airbus for their very substantial contribution for regular education as well as executive education programs at GSV, which will enable the growth of aviation sector in India through creation of superior human resources, skilling and cutting-edge research.”

Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) Vadodara was established through an Act of Parliament in 2022, for creating best in class manpower and talent for the entire transportation and logistics sectors. This Central University is sponsored by the Ministry of Railways, Govt. of India and has Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and IT as its First Chancellor.

Focusing exclusively on transport and logistics sectors, GSV is a “first of its kind” university aiming to fulfil the mandate of the National Developmental Plans (PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan 2021 and National Logistics Policy 2022) across railways, shipping, ports, highways, roads, waterways, and aviation etc.