New Delhi: Sweden's Saab is tying up with the Adani Group to bid for defence deals in India, with a focus on the Gripen fighter jet aircraft, its chief executive Hakan Buskhe told reporters in New Delhi on Friday.
The partnership will compete with US defence giant Lockheed Martin in a two horse-race to win a potential order from India's military for single-engine jets that will be produced locally under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make-in-India" initiative.
The Saab-Adani partnership is aimed at producing planes under India's new "strategic partnership" policy, Ratan Shrivastava, an independent New-Delhi-based consultant and adviser at India's industry lobby group FICCI has said.
Under the defence partnership policy, a foreign aircraft maker will collaborate with an Indian firm to develop a world-class indigenous aeronautical base that India has struggled to build for decades. Lockheed has already picked India's Tata Advanced Systems as its local partner to produce its F-16 fighter planes that will compete with Saab's Gripen aircraft.
The government will issue a formal request to Lockheed and Saab over the next few days to provide information about their plans to design, develop and produce combat jets in India, a government official had told Reuters earlier this week.
The Indian Air Force needs hundreds of aircraft to replace its Soviet-era fleet; PM Modi wants the planes built in India to help boost the domestic industrial base and cut imports.
Adani is a $12 billion group with businesses ranging from energy and logistics to real estate and defence.
The partnership will compete with US defence giant Lockheed Martin in a two horse-race to win a potential order from India's military for single-engine jets that will be produced locally under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make-in-India" initiative.
The Saab-Adani partnership is aimed at producing planes under India's new "strategic partnership" policy, Ratan Shrivastava, an independent New-Delhi-based consultant and adviser at India's industry lobby group FICCI has said.
The government will issue a formal request to Lockheed and Saab over the next few days to provide information about their plans to design, develop and produce combat jets in India, a government official had told Reuters earlier this week.
Advertisement
Adani is a $12 billion group with businesses ranging from energy and logistics to real estate and defence.
© Thomson Reuters 2017
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
India's Defence Production Hits Record High Of Rs 1.27 Lakh Crore In 2023 India 'Running Out Of Weapons' Due To "Make In India" Policy: Report Rajnath Singh Invites US Defence Companies To Invest, 'Make In India' Nurse Raped, Killed On Way Home, Body Found 9 Days Later In UP This US City Has Been Declared America's Least Desirable, Survey Finds "Don't Expect Anything From Me": Kolkata Hospital's New Principal Loses Cool Ukraine, Russia Both Claim Advances In Kursk Region Gaza Ceasefire Talks Underway In Qatar As Deaths Top 40,000 Trump To Hold Press Conference, His Campaign Adds Senior Advisers Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.