RELIANCE Industries and Rolls-Royce have announced plans to jointly design and manufacture engines for India's multirole indigenous fighter jet programme.
Reliance Industries Limited, India's largest private sector company, has been expanding into defence production in military aerospace and advanced munitions to support prime minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" initiative.
New Delhi, one of the world's largest arms importers, has made the modernisation of its defence forces a priority, with repeated efforts to increase domestic production.
Rolls-Royce builds engines for commercial aircraft made by Airbus and Boeing, as well as engines for fighter jets.
The two companies issued a joint statement announcing "their strategic intent to partner and offer capabilities for the design, development, manufacturing and delivery of a sovereign indigenous combat engine for India's Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme".
The statement did not disclose the scale of investment planned by the two companies for the partnership.
The AMCA is India's fifth-generation stealth multirole fighter jet, developed locally for its air force.
The partnership "marks a major milestone towards building a robust, self-reliant aerospace ecosystem in the country," the statement quoted Rolls-Royce chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic as saying.
"Together, we aim to build an enduring national capability that can make India self-reliant and, over time, globally competitive in advanced propulsion technologies," said Reliance Executive Director Anant Ambani.
India under Modi has prioritised modernisation of its military "driven by a self-reliant and future-ready defence sector", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told soldiers on Friday on the eve of the country's 80th independence day.
Last month, India approved the purchase of military equipment worth $5.46 billion, including missiles, electronic warfare systems and suicide drones.
New Delhi has sought over the last decade to reduce its dependence on Russia, its traditional main supplier of military equipment, while turning to countries including the United States and France and increasing domestic production.
A four-day conflict with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan last year highlighted the need for Delhi to upgrade its defence capabilities.
India is also modernising its navy through domestic production of ships and submarines.
Earlier this year, the government approved the purchase of $39 billion worth of defence equipment, including Rafale jets from France.
India's current defence budget is $85 billion.
