INDUSTRY
Defence Ministry seals Rs 62,370-crore deal with HAL to buy 97 Tejas jets
- IBJ Bureau
- Sep 26, 2025
The Ministry of Defence has signed a Rs 62,370-crore deal with Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) for procurement of 97 Tejas Mark-1A fighter jets for the Indian Air Force.
The procurement will include 68 fighters and 29 twin-seaters, along with associated equipment, for the Indian Air Force, according to a statement by the Ministry of Defence.
The delivery of these aircraft will commence during 2027-28 and be completed over six years.
The aircraft will have an indigenous content of over 64 per cent, with 67 additional items incorporated, over and above the previous light-combat aircraft (LCA) Mk1A contract signed in January 2021. The integration of advanced indigenously-developed systems, such as the UTTAM Active Electronically-Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Swayam Raksha Kavach and control surface actuators, will further strengthen the aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) initiatives.
The project is being supported by a robust vendor base of nearly 105 Indian companies that are directly engaged. Deliveries of Tejas Mark-1A were expected to begin last March, with at least 16 planes to be delivered every year.
The production is expected to generate close to 11,750 direct and indirect jobs per year for the duration of six years, giving a major boost to the domestic aerospace ecosystem.
The acquisition, under the Buy Indian (Indigenously-Designed, Developed and Manufactured) category of Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, is in line with the government’s thrust on indigenisation. The LCA Mk1A is the most-advanced variant of the indigenously-designed and manufactured fighter aircraft and will serve as a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of the IAF.
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