India To Fully Indigenise Tejas Fighter Jet ‘Very Soon’: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Bengaluru: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Sunday said efforts are on to make Light Combat Aircraft Tejas fully indigenous, and that it will be done “very soon”. He also highlighted that defence exports from India have increased ever since the government adopted the ‘Atmanirbhar Scheme’, or self-reliance programme, for the defence sector.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Tejas is a 4.5 generation, all-weather and multi-role fighter aircraft. LCA Mk1A is the most advanced version of the LCA Tejas.

The aircraft, however, is powered by General Electric’s F414 engines. The US conglomerate is even planning to produce these engines in India. If the plan goes through, the plan to convert Tejas into a completely indigenised product may get jeopardised.

On being asked about the government’s proposed and long overdue plan to drive up the indigenised content of the aircraft under the government self-reliance programme, Singh said: “That work is on, don’t worry about that. Just give us some more time. We are at it.”

Addressing the curtain raiser of ‘Aero India’ 2023, which begins Monday, Singh said: “We are putting in all efforts to see that Tejas becomes 100 percent indigenised. That is our ultimate aim.”

He also added that investments in Tejas will increase in the coming years. The government has positioned it at the centre of the Aero India show while also planning to promote its exports.

The defence minister Sunday also hinted at the fact that the government is planning to release the fifth ‘Positive Indigenisation List’ under which critical defence platforms will be sourced locally instead of importing from outside.

“It cannot be ruled out that we will be releasing another list,” he said. Last October, the Ministry of Defence had released the fourth list, under which it was decided that 101 defence items such as complex sensor systems, weapons and ammunition, will be produced with locally available raw material.

Under that plan, the government had set a target of placing orders worth Rs 1,75,000 crore to the Indian defence industry over the course of five to ten years.

Defence Export Target Set At Rs 25,000 Cr

Rajnath Singh said Sunday India plans to enhance its export of defence items to Rs 25,000 crore from Rs 13,000 crore currently.

“Our aim is to create a vibrant and world-class domestic defence industry so that we can achieve the goal of self-reliance in the defence as well as the overall development of the nation. This event will also help us to move forward on this path,” he said. 

In an effort to showcase India’s defence prowess, thereby creating news avenues of exports this time, the Aero India 2023 will organise an event called ‘Shared Prosperity Through Enhanced Engagements in Defence’, or SPEED. This will be attended by the defence ministers of various countries.

As many as 32 global defence firms and air chiefs of 29 countries will be attending the Aero India 2023 taking place at the Yelahanka Air Force Base on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Singh said the idea to organise an event like SPEED aims to promote joint development and exports apart from discussing cyber and maritime security.

“We will not link the event with the ongoing Ukraine War. We want to make India self-reliant in defence production and we want to enhance the export of arms and weaponry from India. That is our objective,” he said.

Aero India 2023 will showcase design leadership, growth in the UAVs sector, defence space and futuristic technologies. The event aims to promote export of air platforms such as LCA-Tejas, HTT-40, Dornier Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).

It will integrate domestic MSMEs and start-ups in the global supply chain and attract foreign investments including the partnerships for co-development and co-production, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Defence.