Overview
- The Aeronautical Development Agency issued a corrigendum on Thursday extending the AMCA request‑for‑proposal submission deadline from August 27 to October 30, 2026 and scheduled bid opening for October 31.
- The RFP remains confined to three shortlisted entrants: Tata Advanced Systems, an L&T‑led consortium with Bharat Electronics and Dynamatic, and a Bharat Forge‑led group with BEML and Data Patterns.
- Under the RFP the selected Development‑cum‑Production Partner will deliver five flying prototypes and one structural test specimen and build a dedicated production facility near Puttaparthi for a programme valued at about ₹15,000 crore.
- Bidders asked for extra time because assembling vendor quotations and detailed cost estimates for this one‑off, large‑scale fighter programme is complex and time consuming.
- Officials say bids will be evaluated after October 31 and that the selection process may take two or more months, a schedule change that makes the planned prototype rollout (end‑2027), maiden flight (2028–29) and mid‑2030s induction increasingly likely to slip.