Cabinet approves procurement deal of 83 Tejas aircrafts worth Rs 48,000 crore to strengthen IAF: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday (January 13) procurement of 83 Tejas aircraft at a cost of about Rs 48,000 crore from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The deal is considered to be the biggest ever in the indigenous military aviation sector.

In a series of tweets, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh confirming the development said, "The CCS chaired by PM Sh @narendramodi today approved the largest indigenous defence procurement deal worth about 48000 Crores to strengthen IAF’s fleet of homegrown fighter jet ‘LCA-Tejas’. This deal will be a game changer for self reliance in the Indian defence manufacturing."

"The LCA-Tejas is going to be the backbone of the IAF fighter fleet in years to come. LCA-Tejas incorporates a large number of new technologies many of which were never attempted in India. The indigenous content of LCA-Tejas is 50% in Mk1A variant which will be enhanced to 60%," said the Defence Minister.

In another tweet, Singh said, "The HAL has already set-up second line manufacturing facilities at its Nasik and Bengaluru Divisions. Equipped with the augmented infrastructure the HAL will steer LCA-Mk1A production for timely deliveries to the IAF."

"The decision taken today will considerably expand the current LCA ecosystem and help in creating new job opportunities. HAL follows a system integrator model in LCA Mk1A program and acts as an umbrella organisation, fostering manufacturing & design capabilities in pvt industry," the Defence Minister said.

Rajnath Singh further added, "The LCA-Tejas programme would act as a catalyst for transforming the Indian aerospace manufacturing ecosystem into a vibrant Atmanirbhar-self-sustaining ecosystem. I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi for this historic decision taken by the CCS today."

The LCA-Tejas programme would act as a catalyst for transforming the indian aerospace manufacturing ecosystem into a vibrant Atmanirbhar-self-sustaining ecosystem. I thank the Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi for this historic decision taken by the CCS today. — Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) January 13, 2021

The approval is in addition to an earlier deal to purchase 40 of the combat aircraft. The indigenously-made jets are set to join the Indian Air Force fleet over the course of the next six to seven years.

Light Combat Aircraft Mk-1A variant is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft. 

This aircraft is equipped with critical operational capabilities of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite and Air to Air Refuelling (AAR) would be a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of Indian Air Force, IAF. 

It is the first “Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)” category procurement of combat aircrafts with an indigenous content of 50% which will progressively reach 60% by the end of the programme.