India may avail consultancy from Tejas Mk-II Euro bidders

India could avail consultancy from some of European aircraft manufacturers who had bid for the multi-crore tender for fighter jets, won by Rafale, for the development of the Mark-II version of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, timeline for which has been extended.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the project for design and development of LCA, Tejas Mk-II was sanctioned in November 2009 at a cost of Rs 2431.55 crore with PDC of December 2018. However, because of delay in finalisation of Engine Contract, the project could start only in December 2013. “As a result, <g data-gr-id="10">maiden</g> flight of first Prototype and Operational Clearance are likely to be completed by December 2019 and December 2022, respectively, <g data-gr-id="9"><g data-gr-id="11">there</g> after</g> induction,” he said.