Under the deal, India will acquire 18 fighters in a flyaway condition and 118 will be manufactured under licence in the country.
NEW DELHI: India on Friday cleared the floating of its biggest ever global tender for purchasing 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft in a defence deal that could run up to a staggering Rs 42,000 crore (approximately USD 10 billion).
Ending almost six years of suspense since the Request for Information was circulated in 2001 among international manufacturers, an official announcement said the "process for procurement of the fighters had been cleared".
The Request for Proposals (RFP) will be issued by the first week of August, defence ministry spokesman Sithansu Kar said.
Under the deal, India will acquire 18 fighters in a flyaway condition and 118 will be manufactured under licence in the country.
In a break from existing norms, the chosen manufacturer will have to spend 50 percent as direct offsets on the aircraft or defence manufacturing industry in India, the official announcement said. Under current rules, there is a 30 per cent offset clause in all defence deals worth over Rs 300 crore.
Though the official announcement did not not specify any timeframe for the supply and manufacture of the fighters, top defence ministry sources said the first of the jets were expected to be delivered within three years of the signing of the contract.
With few countries placing bulk orders for fighters, leading international defence aviation companies have for long been awaiting the floating of the Indian contract.
Six major firms -- American firm Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-16, the world's largest selling fighter, Boeing with its F-18/A Super Hornet, France's Dassault with its Rafale, Sweden's Saab with the JAS-39 Gripen, the Eurofighter Typhoon made by an European consortium and Russia's Mikoyan Design Bureau with its MiG-35 -- are expected to vie for the lucrative contract.
With the purchase of these new generation fighters, the Indian Air Force hopes to make up its fast depleting fighter squadron strength, which is expected to hit an all-time low of 29 squadrons by 2010 against the sanctioned strength of 45 squadrons.
The new fighters will replace the IAF's ageing MiG-21 jets, the bulk of which are expected to be phased out by 2009.
The new jets are also expected to fill the gap caused by repeated delays in the programme to develop the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). The LCA was intended to replace the MiG-21s.
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