Anabelle Colaco
05 Feb 2026

NEW DELHI, India: India's push to expand domestic defence manufacturing has drawn fresh interest from Europe's aerospace sector, with Italy's Leonardo and Adani Defence & Aerospace moving to establish a helicopter production base in the country.

The two companies said they had signed a preliminary agreement to create a helicopter manufacturing ecosystem in India, formalised through a memorandum of understanding.

The partnership will focus on Leonardo's AW169M and AW109 TrekkerM helicopter models and is intended to meet rising demand and evolving military requirements in India. The companies said the scope of the agreement could also be expanded to cover civil aviation applications at a later stage.

Ashish Rajvanshi, chief executive of Adani Defence & Aerospace, said the Indian Armed Forces project demands more than 1,000 helicopters over the next decade.

Leonardo's shares rose about two percent by 0900 GMT following the announcement.