India penalises General Electric for delaying Tejas fighter jet engine delivery by 2 years

GE Aerospace has attributed the delay to "unprecedented supply chain pressures" and confirmed efforts to resolve the constraints. According to HAL, the deliveries were supposed to begin in March 2023

read more The Indian government plans to penalise General Electric Co. for significant delays in delivering jet engines for its domestically built light-combat aircraft, Bloomberg reported citing an Indian official familiar with the matter.

The deliveries GE has been penalised for are a part of a £716 million deal with state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). That deal, signed in 2021, covers the supply of 99 engines for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft Mk1. According to HAL, the deliveries were supposed to begin in March 2023.

How much have the deliveries been delayed?

CNBC Awaaz cited sources as saying that GE will commence the supply of F404 jet engines to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) by March 2025. That means a delay of nearly two years from the original date promised. What caused the delay?

GE Aerospace has attributed the delay to "unprecedented supply chain pressures" and confirmed efforts to resolve the constraints. GE's chief executive officer, Larry Culp, acknowledged that the company is facing global delays in jet engine deliveries, pointing to 15 different suppliers involved in the disruptions across the supply chain. Why is the delay a big deal?

The F404 engine is the heart of the Tejas LCA platform. With its deliveries delayed, the supply of the jets by HAL to the Indian Air Force are likely to be impacted. HAL had committed to delivering 16 LCA Mk1A jets to the IAF in 2025, with a total of 83 jets by 2029.

Project-related delays have already pushed back the first delivery of the fighter aircraft- originally scheduled by March 2024- to November.

All in all, this means that the delay poses a challenge to the initiative to bolster domestic fighter jet production amid escalating tensions with neighbouring China and Pakistan.

It also complicates efforts by the US and India to strengthen military ties.

The delay was even expected to feature in Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's conversation with US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin back in August.