New Delhi, July 31: 11 Tejas Light Combat Aircrafts (LACs) will be delivered to the Indian Air Force by December 2018, said Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, while responding to a query in the Rajya Sabha.

In 2006, the then government had inked a pact with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). As per the agreement, the latter was expected to deliver 20 fully weaponised Tejas LACs to the IAF by December 2011.

Although the Initial Operation Clearance (IOC) was issued, the final clearance was upheld which led to an unprecedented delay in the supply of the combat aircrafts to the forces.

Till date, the HAL has supplied only nine Tejas combat aircrafts to the IAF. The remaining 11 LACs are yet to be delivered.

The delay till year-end announced by Bhamre is the third such extension granted to the HAL.

Of the 11 Tejas jets that are yet to be delivered, seven would be single-seater combat aircrafts, whereas, four would be twin-seaters.

While the state-owned ordnance manufacturer is yet to complete the delivery of the LCAs procurement deal signed in 2006, it was awarded another contract for a separate set of 20 combat aircrafts in December 2010.

In November 2016, the Defence Acquisition Council cleared the acquisition of 83 more Tejas LCA Mk1A fighters for the IAF. The total cost of the project is pegged at Rs 50,025 crores. In order to expedite the aerial weaponisation programme, Bhamre said the government had sanctioned Rs 1,381 crore to HAL in March 2017 to increase its production capacity from 8 aircrafts in a year to 16 aircrafts.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 31, 2018 08:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).