Armed forces lost 14 pilots in 35 incidents of crash in 3 yrs

The armed forces lost 14 pilots in 35 incidents of crash between 2014-15 and 2016-17, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre told the Lok Sabha today.
In a written response to a question, he said every such accident is thoroughly investigated by a Board of Inquiry to ascertain the cause of crash.
Replying to another question about Tejas, the multirole light fighter aircraft being designed and produced by defence public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Navy, Bhamre admitted its production and deployment has been delayed.
The government sanctioned Rs 1381 crore to HAL in March this year for ramping up production capacity from the existing eight aircraft to 16 every year, he said.

In response to another question, Bhamre said the turnover of defence canteens rose from Rs 13,709 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 15,781 crore in 2015-16. It further went up to Rs 17,156 crore in 2016-17.
He said the governmet received no serious complaint about sub-standard ration being supplied to the armed forces.