BENGALURU: Defnce Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that India cannot remain dependent on other countries for its defence needs and that the indigenously-developed Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is better than its foreign equivalents on several parameters and is comparatively cheaper.
Giving a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Aatmanirbhar initiative, Singh, who inaugurated a state-of-theart production line for Tejas (Plant - II) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), said that the indigenous aircraft not only means better surveillance at borders, but also adds to the self-respect of Indians.
“HAL’s new LCA facility is an example of how ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ is shaping and HAL deserves the largest indigenous order of 83 LCA Mk-IA at Rs 48,000 crore. The aircraft is the pride of India and sends the right message to others that India can make fighters of class in-house.
The country will achieve the target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore in the field of defence manufacturing in a few years,” he said. On biennial Aero India 2021, which is beginning here on Wednesday, he said that the air show will propel India as a defence manufacturing hub and the country will soon be the most powerful defence economy in the world.
Fourteen countries are participating in Aero India 2021, which has so far got a total of 601 exhibitors, of which 523 are Indian and 78 foreign. Besides, there are 248 virtual exhibitors.
WHAT’S FLYING
IAF
Light Combat Aircraft
Rafale
Sukhoi 30 MKI
Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv
Light Combat Helicopter
Light Utility Helicopter
Advanced Hawk Mk 132
Intermediate Jet Trainer
USAF
B-1B Lancer Heavy Bomber
F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet
F-15EX
KC-46A
AH-64E Apache
P-8I Chinook