HAL Reports Tejas Mk-1A, Prachand, Dhruv Orders Worth ₹2.22 Lakh Crore To Parliamentary Committee

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has told Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence that it currently holds firm orders for 180 Tejas Mk-1A fighter jets, 156 Prachand light combat helicopters, 34 Dhruv advanced light helicopters, 12 additional Su-30MKIs and 240 AL-31FP engines, a combined order book worth ₹2,22,182 crore with a delivery horizon stretching to March 2034, and the largest in the company's history. Five Tejas Mk-1A aircraft are fully ready for delivery, with radar and Digital Weapon Unit integration, ASRAAM and ASTRA missile testing all successfully completed. A third assembly line has been opened at Nashik targeting annual output of 24 aircraft. But the programme's most significant vulnerability remains outside HAL's control GE Aerospace's F404-IN20 engines, which have missed several delivery deadlines. GE has committed to 12 engines in 2025-26 and 20 per year thereafter, a supply rate that would still take years to meet the full 180-aircraft order. The Prachand programme presents a sharply contrasting picture. HAL delivered 15 helicopters ahead of schedule, prompting the government to place a ₹62,700 crore order for 156 more in March 2025, at a delivery rate of 30 per year from the third year of the contract, with completion by 2033. HAL has also restarted the Nashik Su-30MKI production line, closed since 2019 for 12 new jets under a ₹13,500 crore contract signed in December 2024, carrying 62.6 percent indigenous content. The parliamentary committee urged HAL to enter foreign markets more aggressively and promote AI integration in manufacturing, signals that a company that has demonstrated it can build at scale now needs to demonstrate it can deliver on schedule and compete internationally. HAL has the orders. The production lines are open. The next eight years will determine whether delivery matches the ambition the order book represents.