The story so far: Coinciding with Prime Minister Modi’s first state visit, India and the U.S. have announced a slew of deals in defence cooperation, space technology, AI and other areas. The U.S.-India joint statement mentions the “landmark” signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between General Electric (GE) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the manufacture of GE F414 jet engines in India, for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk2. A fact sheet issued by the U.S. said a manufacturing licence agreement has been submitted for Congressional notification.
What is the status of the deal?
A senior Defence Ministry official said it is an “almost done” deal with some commercial terms pending finalisation, in addition to the U.S. Congressional approval, while stating that there would be an 80% transfer of production technology which will see some critical technologies transferred to India.
