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The 48,000 Cr deal which is actually cost eff ective

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 1/18/2021 11:41:44 AM

The deal to procure 83 of the Tejas Mk-1A varient was recently inked. It was seen as a major push for the make in India initiative, celebrated as a huge accomplishment of DRDO and HAL. However, amidst all of this hype and news coverage we often trend to forget how long this deal was hung up for, left on the table since 2017. Eventually one wonders why did it took so long to finalise a deal which was going to benefit the nation and its interests on numerous fronts like defence and manufacturing besides fulfilling the requirements of the forces in order to protect the nation well. Though late, this deal was crucial for the Indian Air Force in order to maintain a squadron strength of 30 which is good enough despite being far less than the ideal strength of 40 squadrons deemed essential to tackle a multi-front war in case there is ever one with our neighbouring adversaries who trend to collaborate against India and its interests quite often. In this light, the Tejas is often compared to the JF-17 Thunder which is a jointly developed and manufactured fighter aircraft by China and Pakistan falling in the same category of Light Combat Aircraft as Tejas where the Tejas surpasses the Thunder in almost every aspect of the picture. All of it can be genuinely considered as both JF-17 and Tejas are posed as the future back bone of the Pakistani Air Force and the Indian Air Force respectively replacing the old fleet of fighter aircrafts. This defence deal to acquire 83 indigenously developed and produced Tejas aircrafts including 10 trainer aircrafts comes at a seemingly pricey tag of 48000 Cr. But when we compare this price to that of the Foreign counterparts, the same tag minuscules on front of the same. A complimentary example may be the deal to acquire 36 Rafale combat aircrafts at a tag of about 59000 Cr. though it less in a totally different category of medium scale combat aircrafts with completely different use and compatibility than that of the LCA category Tejas beings to. The math is evidently quite simple in this case. The Tejas deal will not only boost the or defence and manufacturing sector but will assist in establishing an environment suitable for supporting our future defence projects in the field of aerospace besides promoting our Make In India initiative and the popularity of Indian defence equipment and products for any potential export and sales in the near future. This deal will fulfill our defence requirements at present and past the foundation for all other future projects, at a pace never seen before.