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India has sought initial proposals to locally manufacture a fifth-generation combat aircraft from three short-listed bidders, ANI reported on Wednesday, citing defence officials.
The bidders are Tata Advanced Systems, joint ventures between Larsen and Toubro-Bharat Electronics, and Bharat Forge-BEML, all of them Indian companies.
India approved a programme to build the stealth fighter jets and invited interest for the same from defence firms last year, weeks after the military conflict with Pakistan.
The programme is critical to boost the strength of the Indian Air Force, whose fleet of mostly Russian aircraft has shrunk to below 30 squadrons in recent months, compared to the approved strength of 42.
