Brazilian aerospace major Embraer Defence & Security and India’s Mahindra Group are positioning their partnership around the C-390 Millennium as a major industrial proposal for the Indian Air Force’s future Medium Transport Aircraft programme. The collaboration is intended to go well beyond the supply of aircraft, with the two companies planning local manufacturing, assembly, supply-chain development and maintenance infrastructure in India if the C-390 is selected.
Mahindra has been Embraer’s chosen Indian partner for the programme since the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in February 2024. That relationship was strengthened in October 2025 through a Strategic Cooperation Agreement covering the C-390 campaign, industrialisation and the development of India as a potential manufacturing and support hub for the aircraft.
India at the Centre of Embraer’s C-390 Strategy
The partnership has increasingly taken on an industrial character. Embraer and Mahindra have said they will engage with Indian aerospace companies to identify opportunities involving local production, aircraft assembly, supply-chain participation and maintenance, repair and overhaul.
Their long-term objective is to build an Indian ecosystem capable of supporting both domestic requirements and potentially regional C-390 operations. Embraer has described India as an important part of its wider aerospace supply-chain strategy and has separately been expanding sourcing relationships with Indian manufacturers.
This approach gives the C-390 proposal a significant Make in India dimension. Instead of treating India solely as a customer for imported aircraft, the two companies are seeking to create industrial capacity that could support manufacturing, sustainment and potentially future export requirements.
Indian MRO Capability Planned if C-390 Is Selected
A further step came in February 2026, when Embraer and Mahindra announced plans to establish a dedicated C-390 maintenance, repair and overhaul capability in India if the aircraft is selected by the Indian Air Force.
The proposed facility would support base and heavy maintenance, structural inspections, testing, component repair and overhaul, avionics support and training. Such an arrangement would allow a future Indian fleet to receive much of its lifecycle support domestically rather than depending heavily on overseas maintenance facilities.
For the Indian Air Force, domestic maintenance capability would also have operational implications. Aircraft availability during prolonged periods of high operational tempo depends heavily on access to maintenance infrastructure, spare parts, technical support and repair capability. Building these functions inside India would therefore complement the broader objective of greater defence-industrial self-reliance.
What the C-390 Millennium Offers
The C-390 Millennium is a twin-engine jet-powered military transport aircraft designed for tactical and strategic airlift missions. Embraer gives the aircraft a maximum payload capacity of about 26 tonnes.
The platform can transport troops, cargo, military vehicles and palletised loads while also undertaking medical evacuation, search-and-rescue, humanitarian assistance and firefighting missions. It can operate from temporary and unpaved runways, an important capability for military operations away from established air bases.
Depending on configuration, the aircraft can carry up to 80 personnel or 64 paratroopers. It can also accommodate military vehicles, standard cargo pallets and helicopters of the Black Hawk size category.
The KC-390 variant adds aerial refuelling capability, allowing the aircraft to operate both as a tanker and as a receiver. This multi-role configuration means the platform can supplement transport operations with aerial refuelling, humanitarian relief and other specialised missions.
A Jet-Powered Approach to Medium Military Airlift
One of the distinctive characteristics of the C-390 is its use of jet engines rather than the turboprop configuration traditionally associated with several medium military transports.
This gives the aircraft relatively high cruise speed and allows it to move personnel and cargo rapidly across long distances while retaining the ability to operate from austere airfields. Embraer presents this combination of payload, speed and operational flexibility as one of the principal strengths of the aircraft.
For India, such a capability could be relevant across missions ranging from rapid troop movement and reinforcement of remote sectors to disaster relief, airborne operations and logistics across the Indian Ocean region.
Indian Supply Chain Could Become Part of Embraer’s Global Network
The Mahindra partnership is also part of a broader expansion of Embraer’s industrial engagement with India.
In February 2026, Embraer said it was expanding its Indian supplier network following an executive-level engagement with companies in the country. The company has described India as an important opportunity for building a more resilient global aerospace supply chain.
That effort has already begun producing individual industrial agreements. In May 2026, Embraer selected Bharat Forge as a supplier of forged raw materials, marking its first such contract with an Indian company. The agreement integrates Indian manufacturing capacity directly into Embraer’s international supply chain rather than limiting cooperation to programmes intended solely for the Indian market.
From 2024 MoU to a Broader Industrial Partnership
The progression of the Mahindra-Embraer relationship shows how the C-390 campaign has expanded over time.
The February 2024 memorandum initially established cooperation to jointly pursue the Indian Air Force requirement. The October 2025 Strategic Cooperation Agreement broadened that relationship to include industrialisation, local manufacturing, assembly, supply-chain development and MRO.
The February 2026 announcement added a specific plan for domestic C-390 maintenance capability. Taken together, these developments indicate that the proposal is increasingly being structured detail around an Indian aerospace ecosystem rather than simply aircraft acquisition.
A Potential India-Brazil Aerospace Partnership
The C-390 proposal also has a diplomatic and industrial dimension because it connects two large emerging aerospace markets.
Brazil has developed an internationally competitive aerospace manufacturing sector around Embraer, while India is rapidly expanding its defence manufacturing and private-sector aerospace capabilities. The Mahindra-Embraer arrangement seeks to combine these strengths by pairing Embraer’s aircraft design and production experience with Indian manufacturing and engineering capacity.
The Procurement Decision Still Lies Ahead
It is important to distinguish Embraer and Mahindra’s industrial plans from an actual Indian Air Force aircraft order. Their localisation, manufacturing and MRO proposals are tied to the C-390 being selected under India’s Medium Transport Aircraft programme.
The companies are therefore building an industrial case alongside the operational case for the aircraft. The eventual procurement process will determine the platform selected by India, the number of aircraft ordered and the final localisation requirements.
What is already clear is that Embraer has made India a central part of its C-390 campaign. Mahindra is no longer being positioned merely as a marketing partner, but as a prospective participant in manufacturing, sustainment and the wider aerospace ecosystem surrounding the aircraft.
For India, that means the Medium Transport Aircraft programme could ultimately become not only an aircraft acquisition but another opportunity to expand domestic aerospace manufacturing, maintenance and integration capabilities.
References
Embraer — Embraer and Mahindra Group Forge Strategic Alliance to Introduce the C-390 Millennium to India, 17 October 2025
https://www.embraer.com/media-center/en?detail=22551&mediatype=NEWS&page=1
Mahindra Group — Embraer and Mahindra Group Forge Strategic Alliance to Introduce the C-390 Millennium to India, 17 October 2025
https://www.mahindra.com/sites/default/files/2025-10/SEIntimationEmbrarerandMahindrasignAgreement17thOctober2025.pdf
Embraer — Embraer and Mahindra Group Advance Localization Strategy in India with Planned C-390 Millennium MRO Capability, 19 February 2026
https://www.embraer.com/media-center/en/?detail=24356-Embraer-and-Mahindra-Group-Advance-Localization-Strategy-in-India-with-Planned-C-390-Millennium-MRO-Capability&mediatype=NEWS
Embraer — Embraer and Mahindra Announce Collaboration on the C-390 Millennium Medium Transport Aircraft in India, 9 February 2024
https://www.embraer.com/media-center/en/?detail=13870&mediatype=NEWS
Embraer — KC-390 Millennium: Defence and Security
https://embraer.com/defense-security-air/kc-390-millennium/en/
Embraer — Embraer Advances Supply Chain Development in India, February 2026
https://www.embraer.com/media-center/en/?detail=24165&mediatype=NEWS
Embraer — Embraer Names India’s Bharat Forge as New Supplier, 11 May 2026
https://www.embraer.com/media-center/en?detail=26116&mediatype=NEWS
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