India Plans ₹61,000 Crore Jet Engine Deal with France’s Safran for Future Fighter Jets

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has recommended a partnership with France’s Safran Group to jointly develop a 120kN fighter jet engine for the upcoming Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). The deal, estimated at ₹61,000 crore (around $7 billion), is poised to become one of the biggest Indo-French defence collaborations in history.

According to top defence officials, this decision follows an intense evaluation of competing offers from Safran and UK-based Rolls-Royce. Safran’s proposal was found to be technically superior and more in tune with India’s long-term requirements. The French side has committed to complete technology transfer and co-development, including design, development, testing, and certification of the engine entirely on Indian soil.

The engine program will incorporate critical technologies that India currently does not possess—such as hot-end components, advanced single-crystal blade manufacturing, laser drilling, and thermal coatings. These technologies are key to building high-thrust, efficient, and durable fighter engines.

The 120kN engine will power future versions of AMCA, particularly the Mk2 variant, and is expected to support a fleet of over 250 next-generation aircraft in the coming decades. For now, the initial AMCA Mk1 will continue with GE’s F414-INS6 engines, developed in the United States.

Currently, all Indian fighter jets—from the Su-30MKI and Mirage 2000 to the Tejas and Rafale—rely on foreign-made engines. Developing an engine domestically is seen as crucial to reducing dependency, cutting lifecycle costs, and ensuring national security.

Jet engines are considered one of the most difficult defence technologies to master. Only a handful of countries—the United States, France, Russia, and the UK—have succeeded in building fighter-class engines from scratch.

India’s previous attempt to develop a fighter engine, the Kaveri project, could not meet the required thrust levels for manned fighters. Although a modified version of Kaveri is being considered for unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), the country still lacks a modern, full-scale jet engine for frontline fighter aircraft.

The proposed deal with Safran is expected to address this gap. It also comes at a time when India is negotiating with the US for technology transfer of GE’s F414 engine for AMCA Mk1. However, those talks are still ongoing, particularly around India’s demand for over 80% technology transfer, including access to hot-section parts—one of the most tightly guarded technologies in aerospace.

Defence experts believe that the Safran project, once cleared, could establish a robust engine ecosystem in India. This would not only fuel the AMCA program but also support future technologies like 6th-generation fighters, stealth drones, and hypersonic platforms.

Backed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the engine program is being viewed as a long-term strategic investment in India’s aerospace independence. If finalized, the partnership with Safran could place India in the select league of countries capable of developing and manufacturing advanced fighter jet engines—a capability that has eluded the nation for decades.