Washington: Air India will buy 220 aircraft from Boeing for $34 billion, with an option to buy 70 more, taking the total transaction value to $45.9 billion, a deal that US President Joe Biden described as a “historic deal”. . Announcing the Boeing-Air India deal on Tuesday, Biden also said that together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he is looking forward to further deepening ties between India and the US.
Boeing and Air India have reached an agreement under which the airline will buy 190 B737 MAX, 20 B787 and 10 B777X at list price for a total of 220 firm orders valued at USD 34 billion, according to a White House announcement.
The deal will also include customer options for an additional 50 Boeing 737 MAX and 20 Boeing 787s, for a total of 290 airplanes worth USD 45.9 billion at list price.
“I am proud to announce today the historic agreement between Air India and Boeing to purchase more than 200 American-made aircraft,” Biden said.
The Air India order is Boeing’s third largest ever in dollar value and second largest in terms of number of aircraft.
The purchase will support more than one million American jobs in 44 states, and many won’t require a four-year college degree, Biden said, adding the announcement also shows the strength of the US-India economic partnership.
“With Prime Minister Modi, I look forward to deepening our partnership even further as we continue to address shared global challenges – creating a more secure and prosperous future for all of our citizens,” Biden said.
The announcement follows the inauguration of the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET) last month. The initiative aims to expand strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses and universities of the two countries.
Biden and Modi announced ICET in May
The White House said Biden’s economic plan is about building an economy from the bottom up and out of the middle and reviving American manufacturing.
During production and distribution, the agreement will have a total economic impact of $70 billion across the United States and support an estimated 1.47 million direct and indirect jobs.
The White House said production of the aircraft is supported by three separate US-based manufacturing lines involving aerospace suppliers in 44 different states.