Article Posted on : - Oct 01, 2010

A file photo of HAL Tejas.

NEW DELHI (PTI): US aircraft engine manufacturer General Electric (GE) Aviation Thursday won the bid for supplying engines for the Indian Light Combat Aircraft programme and the deal is estimated to be worth over USD 600 million.

GE pipped its European competitor Eurojet for the deal after DRDO, which is developing the LCA's mark II version, formally announced that the American major's was the lowest bid in the tenders that saw a long-drawn battle for over two years.

"GE was declared as the lowest bidder" by the Price Negotiating Committee headed by DRDO Chief Controller for Aerospace systems Dr Prahlada.

"The Prime Negotiating Committee for the alternate engine for LCA Mk 2 has finalised the comparative statement of tenders...After evaluation and acceptance of the technical offer provided by both Eurojet and GE Aviation, the commercial quotes were compared in detail and GE Aviation was declared as the lowest bidder," an official statement from DRDO said here.

The committee also had representatives from Defence Ministry, Defence Finance, Aeronautical Development Agency, DRDO, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.

"Further price negotiations and contract finalisation will follow," the release added.

Though the order could be for 99 engines initially, India will have the option of order for another 100 engines in the future.

GE had offered its GE F-414 engine as an alternative to its GE F-404 engines that are fitted in the first batch of LCAs that IAF would receive in a couple of years from now.

Eurojet had offered its EJ-200 engines for the LCA Mk II aircraft that is under development now.

The DRDO announcement comes a day after Defence Minister A K Antony returned here after a two-day visit to the US and met American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates among others.

"The company has been chosen to be given the contract for equipping the LCA Mk II aircraft with a customised version of its GE-414 engines," Prahlada said.

He said the company will start equipping the aircraft with its engine in next two and a half years and will provide more power to the LCAs.

The final price to be paid for the engines will be decided in the negotiations between the Price Negotiating Committee and GE Aviation in the next ten days, officials said.

The need for changing the engines was felt after the IAF found out that the GE-404 engines were not providing enough power to the LCA and more powerful engines were needed for the purpose.

Reacting to the DRDO selecting its competitor in the LCA engine bids, Eurojet, in an official statement, said it respected the decision taken by the Price Negotiating Committee.

"However, we regret that the Committee has decided against the most capable and latest generation engine on offer for the LCA-Tejas," the statement added.

Noting that together with its consortium partners and their respective governments, Eurojet would carefully study the decision and its implications, it said, "We expect further details from Indian authorities and more information about the process leading to the announced selection.

"This decision does not affect our strong commitment to India. We will continue to explore true and trusted partnerships here which will support the development of a strong Indian aerospace and defence industry," Eurojet added.