Ministry Of Defence Plans To Impose Penalty On HAL Over Tejas Mk1A Delivery Delays

New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence is planning to impose financial penalties on state-owned plane manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) after it failed to deliver a single LCA Tejas Mk1A fighter jet to the Indian Air Force. The delay has now stretched well over two years past the original deadline.

In 2021, the Defence Ministry signed an agreement with HAL to supply 83 LCA Tejas Mk1A aircraft, comprising 73 fighters and 10 trainers, to the IAF at a cost of ₹45,696 crore.

The deliveries were reportedly scheduled to begin in February 2024, according to an NDTV India report.

As per the deal, HAL was expected to deliver approximately eight aircraft per year to the IAF.

HAL said the biggest reason for the delay is the failure to receive F404-IN20 engines from the American company General Electric (GE) as per schedule. Only six engines have arrived in India so far under a $716 million contract for 99 engines signed in 2021, according to a TV9 Bharatvarsh report.

Reportedly, HAL has fully assembled five Tejas Mk1A aircraft, and nine others have completed flight tests, but the final GE engines are yet to be installed.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also raised this issue with US officials several times.