HAL, Russian major ink pact for civilian commuter aircraft

State-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) to build the SJ-100 civilian commuter aircraft to meet the Indian aviation sector’s requirement for more than 200 regional jets over the next decade.

- Rezaul H Laskar

The partnership came a little more than a month before an expected visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin in early December for an annual summit. It also came against the backdrop of growing US and Western pressure on India to reduce purchases of Russian energy and defence hardware as part of efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

The agreement, which defence minister Rajnath Singh hailed as a “landmark step” for India’s civil aviation sector, was signed by officials of the two firms in Moscow on Monday in the presence of HAL's chairman and managing director DK Sunil and UAC's director general Vadim Badekha.

Under the memorandum of understanding, HAL will have the rights to manufacture SJ-100 aircraft for domestic customers.