India fines GE for two-year delay in Tejas engine deliveries, deliveries to begin by April

New Delhi: India has imposed multiple fines on GE for the US engine maker’s failure to supply the critical F404-IN20 engines required to power India’s indigenous Tejas MK 1A fighter jet, ThePrint has learnt.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) was desperately waiting for the Tejas aircraft, which were scheduled for delivery in March 2024.

Sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh had noted the delay in engine delivery during their recent visits to the US. GE has promised to begin delivering engines by March-April 2025.

On whether GE faces a penalty clause, the sources said: “All contractual obligations will be met. All points will be used.”

On further verification, government sources told ThePrint about the fines imposed on GE for the delay in delivery. Without disclosing the amount of the fines because “it’s an ongoing process,” the sources said the GE contract includes late penalties in every delivery schedule.

“It (the punishment) was imposed more than once,” the source said.

According to the August 2021 contract between GE and manufacturer Tejas Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the US firm was to begin supplying 99 engines for 83 LCA MK 1A last year.

As reported by ThePrint, GE’s failure to meet engine delivery deadlines was one of the major reasons for the delay in delivery of Tejas aircraft.

Meanwhile, government sources said GE’s delay in engine delivery is not part of any “pressure tactics” by the US. They said GE had ties to the South Korean firm and the latter had run into financial problems and was unable to supply certain components.

“We have asked GE to provide technology transfer to us for the same and we will do that here,” the source said.

Sources blamed the Tejas delivery delay on GE’s failure to supply the engines. “As of now, HAL can supply around 5-6 engines and will have the capacity to produce 24 engines by next year. But everything depends on whether GE supplies the engines,” the sources said.

When asked why the IAF has not yet received a single aircraft, sources defended HAL. They said the weapon integration happened recently and the foreign company had delayed the delivery of the Tejas. Moreover, Israel, caught in the conflict, was unable to integrate the radar in time.

The aircraft is currently undergoing testing and once completed, delivery of the Tejas will begin, sources said.

The first aircraft of the Tejas Mk 1A series, LA 5033, took to the skies in March this year. The plane was not flown with a new engine, but with Category B engines—reserve engines used in the past or unused reserve engines from an earlier deal with GE for the Tejas series.

HAL has opened a new production line in Nashik for LCA Mk1As. The company already had a plant in Bangalore capable of producing 16 aircraft per year. The state-owned defense company can now produce 24 aircraft per year.

(Editing by Madhurita Goswami)

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