On July 17, 2025, In a significant milestone for India’s indigenous fighter aircraft programme, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) handed over the first set of wing assemblies for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) , at a ceremony held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
HAL & L&T: A Model of Public-Private Collaboration
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr DK Sunil, Managing Director of HAL, described the handover as a result of years of collaborative effort and trust. He highlighted HAL’s initiative to establish a parallel aircraft structural assembly line in the private sector, which will significantly enhance the production capacity for the LCA Tejas programme.
“HAL is working closely with both large companies and SMEs to build a resilient supply chain. This milestone with L&T is a testament to the shared commitment to excellence in aerospace manufacturing,” he said.
Scaling Up Production
Shri Arun Ramchandani, Senior Vice President & Head of L&T Precision Engineering & Systems, announced that L&T is currently set to deliver four wing sets annually, with plans to ramp up production to 12 sets per year using advanced manufacturing techniques and automation.
Building the Tejas Ecosystem
The LCA Tejas Division has already received multiple critical structural modules from key private sector partners, including:
- Air Intake Assemblies – Lakshmi Machine Works
- Rear Fuselage Assembly – Alpha Tocol
- Loom Assemblies – Amphenol
- Fin & Rudder Assemblies – Tata Advanced Systems
- Centre Fuselage Assembly – VEM Technologies
- Wing Assemblies – Larsen & Toubro
This growing ecosystem of domestic suppliers underlines the increasing role of the Indian private sector in defence production and HAL’s strategy to boost indigenous content in the LCA Tejas Mk1A program.
The private sector should participate in more to give better output.