'Catalyst to Atmanirbhar Bharat': PM Modi, HM Shah laud Rs 48000 cr deal of LCA-Tejas jets

After the Centre approved the massive Rs 48,000 crore deal of procuring indigenous LCA-Tejas fighter jets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to state that this decision by the cabinet will improve the capabilities of our armed forces, boost the indigenous defence industry and strengthen the movement to create an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. This massive deal is said to be the largest ever indigenous procurement deal aimed at strengthening the Indian Air Force with the procurement of a homegrown fleet of Tejas Aircrafts.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah too took to Twitter and praised the "visionary decision" stating that it will strengthen the fleet of "mighty Air Force" and would act as a catalyst for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

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83 Tejas fighter jets to be procured

The Cabinet met under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister in New Delhi on 13 January and has approved procurement of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircraft at the cost of Rs. 45,696 Crore along with Design and Development of Infrastructure sanctions worth Rs.1,202 Crore.

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 aircraft with an indigenous content of 50% which will progressively reach 60% by the end of the programme. 

"Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, India is continuously growing in its power to indigenously design, develop and manufacture advanced cutting edge technologies and systems in the Defence Sector. The manufacturing of Light Combat Aircraft by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, HAL will give a further push to Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and boost indigenisation of defence production and the defence industry in the country. About 500 Indian companies including MSMEs in the design and manufacturing sectors will be working with HAL in this procurement. The programme would act as a catalyst for transforming the Indian aerospace manufacturing ecosystem into a vibrant Atmanirbhar-self-sustaining ecosystem," a statement from the cabinet read.

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