:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/73UBTL3LMNBTNAC6DBGPBCIJHQ.jpg "India to manufacture 83 fighter jets after investing 6.58 billion dollars")
New Delhi, Feb 3 – The Indian state company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has reached an agreement with the Government of New Delhi to provide 83 fighter jets worth about 6.58 billion dollars, official sources reported on Wednesday .
“I am pleased to say that HAL has been awarded the contract to develop 83 new indigenous light combat aircraft (Tejas MK1A) for the Armed Forces valued at more than $ 6.58 billion,” Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said at the fair. Biannual Aero India aviation in the southern city of Bangalore.
The minister pointed out that it is “probably” the largest defense contract concluded under the “Make in India” initiative, the flagship program of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Singh recalled in his speech that the Asian country plans to spend 130,000 million dollars “during the next seven or eight years” to modernize its air forces. In the last national budget, announced last Monday, 19% of the budget was allocated to this effect, the largest increase in defense spending in 15 years.
India is one of the largest arms importers in the world, but after highlighting the benefits of the Tejas light combat aircraft, developed and manufactured in India, the minister explained that now they expect to export about 4.8 billion dollars in goods and services from the aerospace and defense industry by 2024.