Hindustan Aeronautics Limited bagged orders for 83 Tejas aircrafts from Indian Air Force.

Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 83 advanced Tejas fighters. It will boost IAF's defense.

Indian Air Force (IAF) has signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 83 advanced Tejas fighters. It will boost IAF's defense.On February 3, 2021, the Defence Ministry granted a ₹48,000 crore agreement to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to supply 73 Mk-1A fighter jets and 10 LCA (light combat aircraft) Mk-1 instructor aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF). HAL will provide the first Mk-1A aircraft to IAF in three years, and the rest will be delivered by 2030. The Defense Ministry handed over the contract to the Chairman and Managing Director of HAL, R Madhavan, at the inaugural ceremony of Aero India 2021 in Bengaluru.

On January 13, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal to buy the advanced 83 Tejas jets to support IAF's combat power, Hindustan Times reported.

Aero India 2021 was held in Yelahanka Air Force station in Bengaluru from February 3 to 5, 2021. During this show, Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, inaugurated HAL's second LCA plant (light combat aircraft) division in Bengaluru. The LCA plant will manufacture Tejas, a single-engine and multirole light fighter jets. The airshow of Tejas was also exhibited in the 2021 Aero India show. In Singh's presence, the contract for procurement of 83 Tejas was submitted to HAL. It also bagged several other deals from different aerospace industries in this show.

The Defence Minister tweeted, "I am very happy that HAL has got the orders for the development of 83 new indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) – Tejas MK1A from Indian Air Force valued at more than Rs. 48000 Crore, it is probably the biggest "Make in India" Defence contract till date."