Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday approved the execution model for India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. This move is expected to strengthen the country’s local defence capabilities and give a big push to the domestic aerospace industry, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
Equal Opportunity for Private and Public Sector
As per the official statement, the AMCA programme will be carried out by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in partnership with industry players. The plan offers equal chances for both public and private companies. They can submit bids independently, as joint ventures, or in consortia. However, the bidder must be an Indian company that follows all Indian laws and rules.
Major Step Towards Self-Reliance
The MoD said this is a key move to make use of India’s homegrown knowledge and capacity in aerospace technology. It will help in building the AMCA prototype, marking a significant step toward self-reliance under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission.
Next Step: Expression of Interest
ADA will soon release an Expression of Interest (EoI) to begin the development phase of the AMCA project, the ministry added. Following this announcement, the stock market responded positively. Shares of defence-related companies surged by up to 6% during the day.
Companies like Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Cochin Shipyard, Bharat Dynamics (BDL), BEML, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL), Bharat Electronics, Paras Defence and Space Technologies, Ideaforge Technology, and Apollo Micro Systems all saw their stocks go up between 1% and 6%. Thanks to the boost, the Nifty India Defence Index rose to 8,674.05 — its highest point in 52 weeks.
