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India is looking at taking domestic defence production to 100 per cent as dependence on foreign military supplies creates "strategic vulnerability", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday. Singh said this after inaugurating a third production line of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk1A and a second manufacturing facility of trainer jet HTT-40. With opening of the new facility for Tejas jets, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is expected to produce at least 24 LCA aircraft. "There was a time when the country was dependent on other countries to meet its defence needs, and almost 65-70 percent of defence equipment was imported," Singh said in his address "But today, this situation has changed; now India is doing 65 per cent manufacturing on its own soil," he said. "Very soon, we will take our domestic manufacturing to 100 per cent as well," he said. Singh said India's defence export has reached a record Rs 25,000 crore which was less than Rs 1,000 crore few years ago. "
Tata Group's telecom gear firm Tejas Networks has completed the supply of telecom equipment to BSNL to set up 1 lakh sites for 4G and 5G services under the deal awarded in August 2023, the company said in a recent update. "We shipped more than 100,000 sites for the BSNL 4G/5G network. This is one of the largest single-vendor RAN networks in the world ever delivered in record time. So I think I'm very proud of the team and also the consortium of TCS, C-DoT and our customer BSNL for actually helping us make this happen," Tejas Networks CEO and Managing Director Anand Athreya said during the company's recent earnings call. The company won the Rs 7,492-crore deal after completing extensive trials as part of a consortium led by TCS. BSNL is expected to launch its 4G services in June -- about nine years after private operators rolled out their services. The BSNL network is planned to be upgraded to 5G services after stabilisation of 4G services. The company posted a consolidated loss of
As awestruck spectators watched the 'Bharat Shakti' exercise here in Rajasthan on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Pokhran has become witness to the trinity of India's 'aatmanirbharta', belief and self-pride. The integrated tri-service firepower and manoeuvre exercise was held for about 50 minutes at the Pokhran field firing range where India showcased the prowess of its indigenous defence equipment. Roars of LCA Tejas and ALH Mk-IV filled the air while Main Battle Tank Arjun, and K-9 Vajra, Dhanush and Sharang artillery gun systems ruled the firing ranges on ground. Platforms like Pinaka satellite system and a swarm of drones left the audience spellbound. Prime Minister Modi in his address on the occasion said that "the roar of aircraft mid-air, and valour displayed on ground during Bharat Shakti exercise is the call of a 'new India' (naye Bharat ka aavhan hai)". He recalled that it was at Pokhran that the India's nuclear test was conducted in the past. "Pokhran has be
Nigeria, Philippines, Argentina and Egypt have shown interest in procuring indigenously-developed Tejas Light Combat aircraft, CB Ananthakrishnan, the Chairman and Managing Director of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, said on Wednesday. Ananthakrishnan said talks are on with these countries for the possible procurement. "Nigeria, Philippines and Egypt are keen to procure Tejas Light Combat aircraft," Ananthakrishnan told PTI on the sidelines of an event. On how India will proceed with the supply of the Tejas jets to Argentina if the procurement fructifies as the aircraft has some components sourced from the United Kingdom, the Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) said a way would be found out in such a scenario. After the 1982 Falklands War, the UK imposed an embargo on military sales to Argentina and especially prevented supply of hardware manufactured by it. In view of the British restrictions, it is perceived that supply of military hardware comprisin
Under the Narendra Modi government, an order of Rs 36,468 crore for the delivery of 83 LCA Mk 1A Tejas aircraft has been placed with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, official sources said on Saturday, as the prime minister visited the defence PSU and took a sortie in the fighter jet. The delivery of these Tejas aircraft is scheduled to begin by February 2024, they said, asserting that the government has taken giant steps for increasing India's defence preparedness and indigenisation, which includes Tejas fighter aircraft. The first version of the aircraft was inducted into the Indian Air Force in 2016. Currently, two IAF squadrons are fully operational with LCA Tejas, they said. More than Rs 9,000 crore has been sanctioned for the development of LCA Mk 2, an updated and more lethal version of LCA Tejas, they said. To further promote indigenisation, including of the aircraft engine, the transfer of technology for manufacturing of the GE engine in India was negotiated with the US firm
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday undertook a sortie on the Tejas aircraft and said the experience has bolstered his confidence in the country's indigenous capabilities. Taking to social media platform X, the PM said, "Successfully completed a sortie on the Tejas," "The experience was incredibly enriching, significantly bolstering my confidence in our country's indigenous capabilities, and leaving me with a renewed sense of pride and optimism about our national potential," he said. Earlier today, he landed in Bengaluru and visited the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.