Overview

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced India will start manufacturing fighter jet engines domestically in collaboration with France’s Safran.
• The planned engine is intended to power later tranches of the indigenous AMCA and is expected to take about 10–12 years to develop.
• Initial AMCA variants will use GE’s F414 engines, with the higher‑thrust unit targeted for subsequent versions.
• DRDO, including GTRE, is slated to co‑develop the engine with Safran and HAL is expected to handle production, building on Safran’s existing India footprint such as the M88 MRO site in Hyderabad.
• Officials say a government‑to‑government contract is being pursued, with CCS approval and commercial/IPR transfer terms still to be finalised, while HAL‑GE commercial talks on F414 production for Tejas Mk‑2 are set to begin.