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Biman Mukherji

A proposed partnership between Indian industrial giant Reliance Industries and British aerospace engine maker Rolls-Royce could mark a breakthrough in India’s decades-long quest to develop a fighter jet engine, analysts have said.
But they caution that money and manufacturing capabilities alone would not be enough to overcome the technical challenges of manufacturing such an engine.
On Friday, the two companies announced their “strategic intent” to form a partnership, saying they would explore developing an engine for India’s fifth-generation advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA) and setting up a facility in India to build design and development capabilities.
The announcement comes as New Delhi considers a rival proposal from French engine maker Safran and India’s state-run Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), which is being evaluated by the Cabinet Committee on Security, the top government body for major defence and national security approvals.
The two competing plans reportedly promise technology transfer and intellectual property rights for engine development, a long-standing sticking point in India’s efforts to reduce dependence on foreign defence suppliers.
India has been trying to overcome the setback of its indigenous Kaveri engine programme, which has failed to meet the air-propulsion requirements for the Tejas, its home-grown light combat aircraft.
An initial batch of the AMCA aircraft is expected to use the American GE F414 engine.

As a result of its dependency on foreign defence suppliers, India has experienced delays in acquiring weapon systems, prompting it to step up efforts to boost its manufacturing capabilities.
Among them, GE Aerospace’s F404-IN20 engines for the Tejas arrived in March last year, a delay of about two years, while the supply of spare parts for an overhaul of India’s Russian-origin Sukhoi-30 aircraft has experienced delays amid Russia’s war with Ukraine.
“India’s failure in aero-propulsion has never been a shortage of good engineers,” said Sanjay Iyer, a former Indian Army brigadier.
“It has been the absence of an actor willing to fund [core industrial systems such as] forgings, single-crystal casting, coatings and test rigs across a fifteen-year payback horizon.”
Iyer noted that while Reliance had extensive oil refining capacity in India, its capabilities might not translate well to engine-making.
“Reliance has no aerospace certification experience at all, and petrochemical execution muscle does not transfer to a turbine hot section,” he said.
The partnership between Reliance and Rolls-Royce has complicated the Safran proposal just as the relevant officials are expected to announce a decision soon, according to Iyer. The proposal had already received tentative approval among some officials, he added.
One factor potentially working in Rolls-Royce’s favour is its six-decade-long partnership with state-run Hindustan Aeronautics in making aero-engine components and engines for the Indian Air Force’s Hawk advanced jet trainers.
Srinivasan Balakrishnan, director at Delhi-based security think tank Indic Researchers Forum, said that India had kept its options open over the two proposals, calling it a “high-stakes race for true engine sovereignty”.

The previous efforts by GTRE scientists to build aircraft engines could be seen as an advantage in favour of Safran’s proposal over that from Reliance and Rolls-Royce, Balakrishnan added.
In an interview with CNBC TV 18 news channel on Monday, Anil Chopra, a retired air marshal with the Indian Air Force, said he was “so happy” that there would be a competition between the two rival partnerships.
Building aircraft engines is the highest form of self-reliance, according to Chopra. Once India could build fighter aircraft engines, it could move on to develop engines for commercial airlines to meet the demands of the world’s fastest-growing civil aviation industry, he added.
India has embarked on a programme to increase its self-reliance in defence manufacturing in recent years under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) banner and the Make in India initiative.
According to data released by the Ministry of Defence, India’s indigenous defence production rose to a record US$18.8 billion during the financial year ended March 2026.
Over the same period, government-owned public sector entities account for 76 per cent of total domestic defence manufacturing, while the private sector contributes about 24 per cent, according to government data.


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What Reliance and Rolls-Royce mean for India’s fighter jet ambitions

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Analysts say the pair gatecrashing a French firm’s bid gives India options, but questions remain about delivery


Analysts say the pair gatecrashing a French firm’s bid gives India options, but questions remain about delivery.


What Reliance and Rolls-Royce mean for India’s fighter jet ambitions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Analysts say the pair gatecrashing a French firm’s bid gives India options, but questions remain about delivery

Analysts say the pair gatecrashing a French firm’s bid gives India options, but questions remain about delivery