NEW DELHI: An agreement has been reached to manufacture the engine of the Tejas fighter jet in India. The agreement was reached during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US. The US will hand over the F-414 engine manufacturing technology of the new Tejas MK2 to India. Tejas is India's indigenous light combat aircraft. Only the engine is being procured from the US company GE.

GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will jointly manufacture the engine at the Nashik unit. The MoU was signed yesterday in Washington.

GE Company has been collaborating with the Tejas project since 1986. GE's F-404 engine is used in the Tejas Mk1 and Mk1a, while the F-414 engine is used in the Mk2 model. 75 F404 engines of MK1A have been handed over to India. 99 engines are yet to be handed over. India has also received eight F414 engines of MK2. As per the new contract, 99 engines will be manufactured in India.

The contract also includes the development, testing and certification of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) prototype using GE Aerospace's INS6 engine.