India approves industry model for AMCA fighter programme

India displayed a full-scale model of its AMCA at Aero India 2025 in February. (Janes/Samuel Vivek Williams)

The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved a new industry partnership model that will allow private- and public-sector companies to submit bids to participate in India's fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.

An industry source told Janes that this “new approach” means that India's state-owned aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) would not necessarily be the default production partner for AMCA. “HAL will have to submit an open bid for consideration to join the programme, like other companies,” the source said.

The MoD said on 27 May that the approach, which it referred to as the AMCA Programme Execution Model, will allow the state-run Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to execute the AMCA programme by providing “equal opportunities to both private and public sectors on a competitive basis”.

The MoD said that all AMCA entities and bidders should be Indian companies that are “compliant with the laws and regulations of the country”. It added, “They can bid either independently or as a joint venture or as a consortia... [The approach] is an important step to harnessing indigenous expertise, capability, and capacity to develop the AMCA prototype.”

According to the source, the model aims to enhance existing private-sector industrial capacities in the country to support aircraft development and production.

“Much of the Indian private-sector industrial capacity is being used to manufacture small equipment, components, and subscale assemblies for foreign companies. With the new model, the government wants to leverage the skillset available in the private sector for the AMCA programme while scaling up the capacities of the selected companies to handle production and assembly,” the source said.