The 36-jet Rafale deal controversy has brought Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under the spotlight with “serious concerns” being raised in official quarters over the three-year delay in the public sector giant’s production of Russian-origin Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircraft for the IAF. HAL was scheduled to deliver the last of a set of 140 Russian-origin fighters by March 2017, which has now been pushed to March 2020. “We had asked the IAF to pay an additional Rs 2,000 crore to HAL for setting up additional facilities to compress the delivery schedule (of March 2017) and deliver the last of the contracted 140 aircraft by March 2015. But there were further delays in production,” sources said.

The 36-jet Rafale deal controversy has brought Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under the spotlight with “serious concerns” being raised in official quarters over the three-year delay in the public sector giant’s production of Russian-origin Sukhoi Su-30 MKI aircraft for the IAF. HAL was scheduled to deliver the last of a set of 140 Russian-origin fighters by March 2017, which has now been pushed to March 2020. “We had asked the IAF to pay an additional Rs 2,000 crore to HAL for setting up additional facilities to compress the delivery schedule (of March 2017) and deliver the last of the contracted 140 aircraft by March 2015. But there were further delays in production,” sources said.