New Delhi, March 18 – Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), a state-owned aerospace company, has informed a parliamentary panel on defense that it currently has orders for supplying 34 Dhruv helicopters, 180 LCA Tejas Mk-1A aircraft, and 156 Prachand attack helicopters to the armed forces.
Regarding the LCA Mark 1A, HAL further told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense, "We have five aircraft ready."
"We have successfully completed the integration of the radar and DWU. We have also successfully completed the ASRAAM testing for air-to-air missiles and the ASTRA beyond visual range missile," HAL's CMD reportedly told the Committee.
"These tests have been successful for the Tejas Mark 1 Alpha (Mk-1A). Furthermore, we have opened the third line at Nasik for the Tejas to increase capacity to twenty-four. Additionally, we have established a second line for the HTT-40 in Nasik for production, and we have already produced the first three aircraft," the report stated.
ASRAAM stands for Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missile.
The report, titled "Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Defence for the year 2026-27 on Defence Public Sector Undertakings, Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination and Services) – New DPSUs, Directorate General of Quality Assurance, Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance and National Cadet Corps," was presented in Parliament on Wednesday.
In February, a spokesperson for HAL said that five Tejas light combat aircraft were fully ready for delivery to the Indian Air Force.
In February 2021, the defense ministry had signed a ₹48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas Mk-1A jets for the IAF.
The delivery of the jets is facing delays primarily due to GE Aerospace missing several deadlines for supplying its aero engines to power the jets.
As cited in the report, HAL's CMD also told the panel that HAL maintains a "comfortable order book position."
HAL is currently executing major projects worth ₹2,22,182 crore with a delivery timeline of March 2034, which include Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk-1A; Hindustan Turbo Trainer (HTT-40); and Dornier (Do-228), etc., the report said.
HAL told the panel, "We have delivered 72 Dhruv. For Dornier in the current year, we have a large order for the mid-life upgrade. The Prachand, we had delivered 15 in advance and now they are already in the field and based on that, we got 156 orders for the Army and Air Force."
The state-owned aerospace behemoth has said, "Currently, we have an order for supplying 34 Dhruv, 180 Tejas (Mk-1A), 156 Prachand which is the attack helicopter."
"We have an order for 12 Su-30 MKIs. We are restarting the line which was closed in 2019. We are restarting it to produce these 12 aircraft. We have also got an order for 240 AL31FP engines. We are already delivering these engines. This year's, we will be delivering in batches of 30," it has said.
The defense ministry in 2024 said, a contract for procurement of 12 Su-30MKI aircraft along with associated equipment has been signed between the Ministry of Defence and HAL on December 12 that year, at an approximate cost of ₹13,500 crore inclusive of taxes and duties.
These aircraft would be manufactured at HAL's Nasik division. The supply of these aircraft would enhance the operational capability of the Indian Air Force and strengthen the country's defense preparedness, the ministry had said.
The Committee observed that from the information provided by the Department of Defence Production, there exists substantial variation in the order book position among the old nine DPSUs.
"The order book position as on 31.12.2025 of old DPSUs, viz., HAL, BEL, BEML, BDL, MIDHANI, MDL, GRSE, GSL and HSL stood at ₹2,60,960 crore, ₹73,400 crore, ₹16,359 crore, ₹25962 crore, ₹2,440 crore, ₹27,415 crore, ₹20205 crore, ₹32,400 crore and ₹18,308 crore," the report said.
The panel said it understands that the above variation in order book position is due to the nature of products or equipment and DPSUs are mostly competing to get orders.
It further said that the panel has also been informed that future order book would depend on the requirements of armed forces and other customers and the ability of DPSUs to meet those needs based on nomination or on competitive bidding basis.
The Committee said it is hopeful that the order book position of old DPSUs would certainly improve in the future and competition would act as a catalyst to excel.
The panel also wished that these DPSUs "venture more into foreign markets" through diversification of their products and new designs to improve their order book position.
In its recommendations, the panel said that the use of AI in the defense sector needs to be "further encouraged and promoted" as it facilitates faster decision-making, increases efficiency, reduces personnel risk and shifts warfare towards intelligence-automated systems.
Further, with regard to the issue of modernization, the Committee said it is of the view that modernization is a continuous process and hoped that the ministry will take appropriate steps to incorporate the new technological challenges and needs in order to modernize the DPSUs which are the pillars of defense production and requirements.
At the same time, enough focus on research and development and innovations is also required as an essential part of modernization, it said.