Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a sortie in the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) in Bengaluru on Saturday and stated that the experience enhanced his confidence in India’s indigenous capabilities. He is the first serving prime minister to fly in the Tejas fighter jet, manufactured by the public sector aerospace conglomerate Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
Taking to the social media platform X, Modi said, “Successfully completed a sortie on the Tejas. The experience was incredibly enriching, significantly bolstering my confidence in our country’s indigenous capabilities and leaving me with a renewed sense of pride and optimism about our national potential.
Flying in Tejas today, I can say with immense pride that due to our hard work and dedication, we are no less than anyone in the world in the field of self-reliance. Heartiest congratulations to the Indian Air Force, DRDO, and HAL, as well as all Indians.â€
Modi arrived in Bengaluru earlier on Friday and visited to review the ongoing work at its manufacturing facilities, officials said.
The Prime Minister has been pushing for indigenous production of defence products and highlighting how his government has boosted their manufacturing in India and also their exports.
Several countries have shown interest in buying Tejas, and US defense giant GE Aerospace had inked a pact with HAL to jointly produce engines for the Mk-II-Tejas during the Prime Minister’s recent state visit to the US.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh noted in April this year that India’s defence exports have reached an all-time high of Rs 15,920 crore in 2022-2023. It is a remarkable achievement for the country, he had said.
The first version of Tejas was inducted into the IAF in 2016. Currently, two squadrons of IAF, 45 Squadron and 18 Squadron, are fully operational with LCA Tejas.
HAL inked a Rs 47,000 crore deal in 2021 to supply 83 Tejas jets to IAF and is likely to get the nod for another 97 Tejas jets worth over Rs 55,000 crores in the coming days.
In October, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said the Indian Air Force was in the process of finalising a Rs 1.15 lakh crore deal to procure an additional batch of 97 Tejas Mark-1A aircraft besides upgrading 84 Sukhoi-30MKI jets at a cost of Rs 60,000 crore.
With the additional 97 Tejas Mark-1A jets, the total number of indigenously-developed aircraft being procured by the IAF would go up to 180.
The defense ministry is also looking at signing a contract with HAL next year to procure a total of 156 light combat helicopters (LCH), out of which 66 will be for the IAF.
Asked about the timeline for the delivery of the LCA Mark-1As as HAL can produce only 15 of them annually, he indicated that the aerospace major may increase the pace of production in partnership with the private sector.
Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments. It has been designed to undertake the air defence, maritime reconnaissance, and strike roles.
