Countering media reports that Light Combat Aircraft-Tejas is being ignored, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said the defence ministry is in talks with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ( HAL ) to scale up the production capacity of Tejas “We are not shutting or closing down the LCA programme. “We want Tejas’s Mk-II version,” she added.The minister also revealed that Singapore is interested in buying Tejas. Singapore's defence minister has shown interest in it,” she said.The Singapore defence minister Ng Eng Hen during a visit to India in November last year had flown a sortie in Tejas. He had praised Tejas as an excellent aircraft.Meanwhile, sources said that a Request for Information for another fighter program is “in the works”. “The IAF and MOD are working on it,” sources said.According to some media reports, the Centre has scrapped the single engine fighter program for 114 jets.

Source: Economic Times March 03, 2018 13:55 UTC