India started trying to build a fighter jet engine in 1986. Forty years and hundreds of crores later, the Kaveri programme has never produced one that works.
Last week, GE Aerospace announced that technical discussions with HAL for co-producing F414-INS6 jet engines in India are done. The deal involves 80% technology transfer — GE owns that share of the engine’s intellectual property — making it the deepest defense tech sharing the United States has ever offered any country. The deal lands amid a broader shift in India’s technology ecosystem, where domestic patent filings surged 69% in FY26. The remaining 20% sits with other US suppliers whose components go into the engine.
What 99 Engines Actually Mean
Ninety-nine F414 engines will be manufactured in India to power the Tejas Mk2. The Indian Air Force projects demand for 120-130 Mk2 aircraft, which could push that number higher. The same engine will also power the first two squadrons of AMCA — India’s fifth-generation stealth fighter programme.
The contract is expected by March 2027. HAL’s manufacturing facility, built with GE’s support, should be operational within two years of signing. That puts the first Indian-made F414 engines around 2029.
But the engine count isn’t the real story. India’s fighter squadron strength has dropped to roughly 31 against an authorised 42 — while managing security threats from both China and Pakistan. Every year without domestic engine capacity is a year of dependence on foreign production lines and foreign politics.
Why This Time Is Different
In 2012, GE offered F414 co-production with about 58% technology transfer. The deal collapsed. The 2023 MOU — signed during PM Modi’s state visit to Washington — put 80% on the table. Three years of negotiations followed. GE VP Rita Flaherty confirmed the technical breakthrough on April 13.
Commercial negotiations are next, complicated by rising global component costs. And GE has signalled openness to co-developing even more advanced engines in the 120 kN class for future fighter platforms.
India’s defence production hit a record Rs 1.51 lakh crore in FY25. Defence exports reached an all-time Rs 38,424 crore. India is now one of the few countries to have mastered both fast breeder nuclear reactors — only Russia has done commercially — and jet engine manufacturing. The F414 deal is the piece that was always missing — the engine, literally, that powers everything else.
For 80 years, India built airframes and bought engines. That era just ended — and it’s not happening in isolation. From India’s aerospace self-reliance push to defence manufacturing, the country is building the industrial base it has outsourced for decades.