SOURCE: Rajesh Kumar/ FOR MY TAKE / IDRW.ORG
HAL has re-clarified and has confirmed that its Bangalore LCA-Tejas Production line will produce 16 aircraft per annum and Nashik Plant which currently produces 12-15 Sukhoi-30MKI will make the transaction from Su-30 to LCA-Tejas 1A after a final contract is reached with Indian Air force for 83 upgraded LCA-Tejas 1A.
Nashik Plant according to Industrial experts can further argument total LCA-Tejas Production capability to beyond 24 per year if there is further scope for expansion of orders for LCA-Tejas beyond 123 (40+83) in near future. Opening up of the Nashik Plant for 3rd line of LCA-Tejas production will come has handy for HAL in a possible production run of 201 LCA-Tejas MK-2 which increasing has been speculated off late will land up with a private sector company.
HAL is already facing lack of orders for its fighter production division and increasingly is seeing the emergence of the private sector companies who are keen to enter lucrative assembly and production of fighter aircraft for the air force. HAL is still lead partner for many of the fighter vendors who are in the race for the supply of 114 units of fighter jets under new tender issued by IAF, but there still is uncertainty on who will win the order and who will locally manufacture them in India.
After India’s exit from the high profile 5th generation fighter aircraft program with Russia, Nashik Plant is without any orders and plan to produce 40 more Sukhoi-30 from the same plant is yet to be approved by IAF which means production line will become vacant by end of March 2020.