INDIA'S QUEST FOR INDIGENOUS JET ENGINE REMAINS AT THE THRESHOLD

While the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has denied the reports to impose penalties on GE over the delays of the F404 jet engine, India's quest for the indigenous jet engine remains at the threshold in search of its IPs and tech

- MANISH KUMAR JHA

THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE (MOD) HAS REBUFFED REPORTS that India has invoked penalties against the US jet engine manufacturer General Electric (GE) which signed a $716 million deal with HAL in 2021 for 99 F404 engine for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A.

In a message to journalists on the evening of October 29, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, “It has been noted that some media organisations have carried a story that India plans to impose penalties on GE for the  delay in delivery of Tejas engines. The story is factually incorrect as no such proposal was considered. The contract is between HAL and GE.”

The false reportage was based on the delays from GE and the speculations that the government might impose a penalty. However, it is a pertinent fact that there is an inherent clause – Liquidity Damage –which is embedded in such high stake deals through government-to-government (G-to-G) routes and many cases of military procurement. According to the contract, the first tranche of the jet engines was supposed to start by 2023. In fact, the talks on engine supply did take place during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to the US. As reported, GE has committed to start delivering the engines (F404) for LCA Tejas Mk1A by March/April 2025.

THE ENGINE BLUES FOR TEJAS

The contract was signed in August 2021 between GE and HAL. According to the contract, the US engine maker was to start delivery of 99 engines for the 83 LCA Mk1A last year. The delay has certainly caused the IAF to red-flag the issues at the highest level, leading to multiple talks with the firms and officials from the MoD, India.