By N. C. Bipindra

New Delhi: India’s state-run aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) won’t produce the air force’s futuristic Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) prototypes, Indian media reports said on February 4, 2026. Instead, one of the three private companies, who qualified under an Expression of Interest (EOI) process, would be awarded the contract.

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh had, late last month, told a defence event that three private companies/consortia had qualified the EOI issued by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and these firms would be asked to submit their price offers through a Request for Proposal (RFP).

Singh also said the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would decided on the Lowest Bidder from among the three bidders for developing the AMCA prototypes in the next three months and award of contract would follow after cost negotiations. Meanwhile, the Indian media report, referred earlier, said the three qualified contenders were the Tata Group and two consortia, led by the Kalyani Group and Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

These three bidders had qualified to receive the RFPs to build AMCA prototypes, the report said, without naming the source of this information. But, later in the day, HAL, responding to the report through a statement, claimed it had “not received any official communication in this regard, and therefore, is not in a position to comment on these reports at this stage.”

The media reports on the AMCA programme come to its notice, HAL’s official spokesperson said, adding that the company was “committed to keeping all stakeholders fully informed of all developments.” HAL is one of India’s Defence Public Sector Unit (DPSU) listed on the bourses, and such media reports adversely impact its share prices.

“HAL would like to reiterate that it has a robust confirmed order book, providing strong revenue visibility, and a healthy production and execution pipeline extending up to 2032,” HAL said in the statement. Yet, it was this positive side of HAL’s order book that turned “negative” for the state-run aircraft maker, as the EOI parameters for AMCA prototype had a specific limitation for the bidders.

“HAL’s INR 2.52 trillion order book has proved to be a challenge, with one of the criteria in the AMCA EoI stipulating that companies would receive zero marks out of 100 if their order book was three times their turnover. HAL’s order book is over eight times its FY25 turnover of INR 30,105 crore,” the report claimed.

The state-run company also said, it “is simultaneously advancing multiple strategic programmes, including the Indian Multi Role Helicopter (IMRH), LCA Mk2, and Combat Air Teaming System (CATS), which will further strengthen its technological capabilities and long-term growth prospects. These programmes are expected to enter production post-2032.”

HAL is also diversifying its portfolio in the civil aviation segment with platforms such as the Dhruv NG, Hindustan 228 and the SJ 100 (in a tie-up with Russian Original Equipment Manufacturer), which will enhance revenue and provide sustainable growth in the future. “HAL has strong fundamentals and is committed to delivering sustained year-on-year growth through consistent performance,” the company assured its investors and the nation.

In May 2025, the MoD had noted that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had approved the AMCA Programme Execution Model, which it claimed was “a significant push towards enhancing India’s indigenous defence capabilities and fostering a robust domestic aerospace industrial ecosystem.”

Then, the MoD said the ADA was “set to execute the programme through industry partnership.” It said, the Execution Model approach provided equal opportunities to both private and public sectors on competitive basis.

“They can bid either independently or as joint venture or as consortia. The entity/bidder should be an Indian company compliant with the laws and regulations of the country. This is an important step towards harnessing the indigenous expertise, capability and capacity to develop the AMCA prototype, which will be a major milestone towards Aatmanirbharta (Self-Reliance) in the aerospace sector.

Shortly after, in June 2025, ADA issued the EoI for the AMCA Development Phase. After the evaluations of the EOI responses, here are the three qualified EOI responders for the INR 15,000-crore AMCA project:

1. Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), the Tata Group’s aerospace and defence arm;

2. Bharat Forge Limited, part of the Kalyani Group leading a consortium with DPSU BEML Limited and private-sector defence electronics firm Data Patterns (India) Limited; and

3. Larsen & Tourbo, heading another consortium with DPSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), which brought in global aerospace parts supplier Dynamatic Technologies Limited as a partner.

Among those four that did not qualify in the EOI are:

1. HAL, as the lead of a consortium, partnering two smaller private firms, including Vem Technologies Private Limited.

2. Adani Defence & Aerospace, as the prime, with private precision engineering company MTAR Technologies as the other partner.

3. Goodluck India Limited, an engineering solutions provider, tying up with defence firm Axiscades Technologies Limited, and government-controlled BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Limited, and

4. ICOMM Tele Limited, a group company of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited, combined with precision metal components manufacturer PTC Industries Limited.

With HAL out of the AMCA prototypes tender, India is decisively moving towards creating a second company —  this time in the private sector — to manufacture fighter aircraft, thereby strengthening India’s defence industrial capabilities. HAL was already involved in the licensed assembly of MiG and Sukhoi aircraft until recently, and has a huge 180-aircraft order for Tejas Mk1A combat jets.

The AMCA project execution approach would, consciously, break the HAL monopoly in manufacturing combat aircraft. India had, previously, awarded another contract to private sector TASL to manufacture the C295 military cargo planes, in alliance with European original equipment manufacturer Airbus.

That contract had effectively broken the monopoly of HAL that had in the earlier years got all orders for military planes manufacturing under MoD  “nomination.”

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