India's HAL Readies New Plant to Double Tejas Jets Production Capacity

India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is preparing the third plant to produce 83 new Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark 1A jets that the Air Force is expected to sign a contract for, during Aero-India 2021 event scheduled to take place from February 3-5.

The new plant at Doddanekundi in Bengaluru city would be inaugurated by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday.

The first dedicated LCA plant and HAL’s Aircraft Division are both currently tasked with producing Tejas jets.

The Phase I of the facility getting ready on 35 acres of land will enable HAL to enhance its production capacity to 16 from the current eight aircraft, the company said in a statement.

Machines such as CNC profilers, 5 axis machining centers, High Pressure fluid cell press machine, Test rigs, specialised facilities for Heat Treatment, special processes and hangars for structural assembly of aircraft are being created in New LCA Complex.

The Tejas Mark-1A aircraft worth Rs 46,898 crore — 73 fighters and 10 trainers. The deal was cleared by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on January 13. It will reportedly have 43 “improvements” over Tejas Mark-1 jets.

A contract for 83 new aircraft that has been on the table for quite some time now is expected to placed in the upcoming Aero India show. All 83 jets would be delivered to the Air Force in the next decade commencing 36 months from contract signing.