A prototype of Tejas Mark-1A has already been inducted into the IAF. File
Ajay Banerjee
New Delhi, April 12
In major boost to the Indian Air Force, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has asked public sector giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to submit its commercial bid for producing 97 Tejas Mark-1A jets at an estimated cost of Rs 66,000 crore.
These 97 jets are in addition to the 83 such aircraft already ordered by the MoD from the HAL. The ministry holds a majority stake in the HAL, a listed company. Ministry officials confirmed that a request for proposal (RFP) had been sought from the HAL.
The HAL has been given three months to submit a proposal. In November last year, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the apex decision-making body of the MoD, okayed the procurement of 97 more Tejas Mark-1A fighter jets.
The DAC, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved the acceptance of necessity (AoNs) for the acquisition process. The RFP sought from the HAL is the second step.
A prototype of the Mark-1A version has already been inducted. A series of validations are underway and deliveries for the first lot of the 83 jets will commence anytime now. The Indian Air Force presently has 31 squadrons (16-18 planes each) of fighter jets against the mandate of 42 to tackle a collusive two-front threat against Pakistan and China.
Over the next one year, all two squadrons of the Soviet-era MiG 21 fighter jets will retire. The Jaguar, MiG-29 and Mirage 2000 jet fleets, all inducted in phases during the 1980s, are slated to retire in batches beyond 2029-30. These four types of jets are about 250 in number and are presently operating on an extended life cycle.
As per the plan, India needs to produce some 390 fighter jets for the IAF in the next 14-15 years (till 2038-39).
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