NEW DELHI, Oct 29: American company General Electrics (GE) has sought time till April next year to start supplying engines for the upgraded version of Tejas Mark-1A fighter planes, marking a breach in the contract as the delay will be to the tune of two years.
The delay in the supply of engines has affected the production of the upgraded version of these fighter planes, much to the discomfort of the Indian establishment.
Under the contract signed between state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and GE in August 2021 for the purchase of F-404 engines for 99 aircraft, there is a provision for a penalty for delay in supplying the engines but that proposal is not under consideration at present, according to top officials of the Indian government.
Earlier that year, the Defence Ministry had signed a deal worth Rs 48,000 crore with HAL for the purchase of 83 Tejas Mark-1A aircraft in the year 2021.
Under the contractual obligations, GE was to start supplying engines in March 2023 but now it has communicated that it will supply these engines from April next year, according to the sources.
There has already been a sense of anxiety over the delay in the supply of the engines, to the extent that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval have raised the issue with their US counterparts during their visits to the country at different times.
The sources here noted that the reason for the delay is not any pressure, politics or other issues, but is due to technical reasons.
One reason GE attributed to the delay is the lack of equipment from South Korea for these engines.
Tejas Mark-1A is an upgraded version of the indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and the Indian Air Force is in great need of these aircraft for its fighter aircraft fleet.
This aircraft is being manufactured by HAL for the Indian Air Force. (UNI)
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