Article Posted on : - Feb 02, 2009

LCA Tejas. ADA photo

NEW DELHI (PTI): The global meltdown has come as a blessing in disguise for the country's indigenous fighter aircraft development programme -- Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

Unable to retain its flock due to the Information Technology (IT) boom in the past, India's premier Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) believes that recession will help complete its LCA programme in time.

"After recessionary trends in the economy, we are not losing men to the IT industry, which will help our efforts to complete the programme in time," ADA Director P S Subrahmanyam told PTI here.

On the exodus of LCA programme team members to IT industries in early part of the decade, Subrahmanyam said, "The LCA team comprises 350 members and in last five years more than 150 of them left for greener pastures." After the global economy started to slowdown, former members of the LCA team have started approaching DRDO to work on the indigenous aircraft development programme.

"I am getting feelers from people who had left us then and joined companies such as Wipro, Satyam, Infosys and other major IT companies that they again want to join the prestigious programme," Subrahmanyam said.