Defence Ministry inks ₹6,800-crore contract with HAL to procure 70 basic trainer aircraft

Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, along with other senior civil and military officials of the Ministry, and representatives of the HAL and L&T were present at the contract signing ceremony.

The Defence Ministry on March 7 sealed a deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to procure 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft at a cost of more than ₹6,800 crore for the Indian Air Force.

The Ministry also finalised a contract with the Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) for acquisition of three cadet training ships worth more than ₹3,100 crore. Both the procurement proposals were cleared by the Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on March 1.

"The Ministry of Defence on March 7 signed contracts with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) for procurement of 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft and three cadet training ships respectively in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh," the Ministry said.

While the HAL will provide 70 HTT-40 aircraft over a period of six years, the delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from 2026.

Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, along with other senior civil and military officials of the Ministry, and representatives of the HAL and L&T were present at the contract signing ceremony.

The HTT-40 is a turbo prop aircraft possessing good low speed handling qualities and provides better training effectiveness, according to the Ministry.

“The HTT-40 contains approximately 56% indigenous content which will progressively increase to more than 60% through indigenisation of major components and subsystems,” officials said.