Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister, said on Sunday that India will now be able to make its own aircraft engines. Specifically, India will be able to make the F414 engines that are used in the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.
She said, “GE, the largest aeronautics company, has signed an agreement with HAL for the joint production of F414 aircraft engines.” These deals were made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent trip to the US. This joint venture will happen in India, and 80% of the knowledge will be given to India.
“I bring this up because the Indian opposition is often critical of HAL, but now we can see that HAL is making this deal with GE to work together on production.”
Sitharaman also said that the engines made by HAL would be used in the Indian-made Tejas plane, which is made in India from start to finish.
She also said that India is buying robotic aerial vehicles (UAVs), like the sea guardian MQ-9B, which will make the military much stronger.
She also said that Master Ship Repair Agreements will make India the biggest place for ship repairs. The US Navy already has agreements with Karthupalli (near Chennai), Larsen and Toubro, and two other factories.
She also said that they are working on deals with the Mazagon Docks in Mumbai and the Goa Shipyards.
