Cabinet clears purchase of 83 Tejas fighter jets for Indian Air Force

Government has approved procurement of 83 Light Combat Aircraft, LCA, Tejas worth about 48 thousand crore rupees from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for Indian Air Force. The Cabinet Committee on Security, CCS chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday met in New Delhi.

In a series of tweets, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said this deal will be a game changer for self reliance in the Indian defence manufacturing. He said the LCA-Tejas is going to be the backbone of the Indian Air Forces fighter fleet in the years to come.

He added that LCA-Tejas incorporates a large number of new technologies many of which were hitherto unattempted in India. The Defence Minister said the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, HAL has already set-up second line manufacturing facilities at its Nasik and Bengaluru Divisions.

The Defence Minister said the LCA-Tejas programme would act as a catalyst for transforming the Indian aerospace manufacturing ecosystem into a vibrant Atma Nirbhar-self-sustaining ecosystem.

Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, India is continuously growing its power to indigenously design, develop and manufacture advanced cutting edge technologies and systems in the Defence Sector. About 500 Indian companies including MSMEs in the design and manufacturing sectors will be working with HAL in this procurement.