HAL seals mega dealHAL seals mega deal with GE with GE Aerospace for procurement of 113 jet engines
New Delhi (PTI): The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) on Friday sealed a major deal with American defence major GE Aerospace to procure 113 jet engines for its Tejas light combat aircraft programme.
The firming up of the deal came notwithstanding a downturn in India-US relations after the Trump administration slapped a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods. Under the deal, the delivery of the F404-GE-IN20 engines will begin from 2027 and the supplies will have to be completed by 2032, officials said.
The size of the deal is learnt to be close to USD 1 billion (approximately Rs 8,870 crore) The HAL said it has entered into an agreement with General Electric Company to acquire the engines and support package for execution of 97 Light Combat Aircraft Mk1A programme. The defence ministry in September sealed a Rs 62,370 crore deal with the HAL to procure 97 Tejas MK-1A light combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments. It has been designed to undertake the air defence, maritime reconnaissance and strike roles. The HAL is also using GE F404-IN20 engines to power another lot of LCA MK1A jets.
In February 2021, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas Mk-1A jets for the IAF. The delivery of the jets are facing delays primarily due to GE Aerospace missing several deadlines for supply of its aero engines to power the jets.
The IAF is looking at inducting the warplanes as the number of its fighter squadrons have gone down to 31 from officially sanctioned strength of 42.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has entered into an agreement with M/s. General Electric Company, USA, on 7th November 2025 for the supply of 113 Nos of F404-GE-IN20 engines and support package for execution of 97 LCA Mk1A programme. pic.twitter.com/zB4BVGP0LK
— HAL (@HALHQBLR) November 7, 2025
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SC refuses to entertain plea against deletion of names from WB voter list, terms it ‘premature’
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea by a group of 13 people seeking its intervention in the deletion of their names from the voter list during the Special Institutional Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, where polling for the first phase of the assembly election will be held on April 23.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi termed the petition "premature", directing the aggrieved parties to approach the established appellate tribunals instead.
"Since the petitioners (Quaraisha Yeasmin and others) have already approached the appellate tribunals… in our considered view, the apprehensions expressed in the petition are premature. If the plea is allowed, then necessary consequences will follow,” the bench said in its order, adding that it has not expressed any views on the merits of the plea.
The plea alleged that the Election Commission was summarily deleting names without following due process, and that appeals against these deletions were not being heard in a timely manner.
The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has set up as many as 19 tribunals headed by former HC chief justices and judges to decide appeals against deletions of names of persons from the voters’ lists.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, informed the court that there are approximately 30 to 34 lakh appeals currently pending. "Every tribunal now has over one lakh appeals to handle," the bench said.
The petitioners’ counsel argued that the EC had failed to place necessary orders before the relevant judicial authorities and that the "freezing date" for the electoral rolls should be extended.
"If I am not allowed to argue, then what is the use? Will these appeals be decided within a timeframe or just kept extending?" the counsel asked.
Justice Bagchi, during the hearing, referred to the sanctity of the electoral process and said the right to vote is not merely a constitutional formality but a "sentimental" pillar of democracy.
"The right to vote in a country you were born in is not just constitutional, but sentimental. It is about being part of a democracy and helping elect a government," he said.
He, however, said that the tribunals, manned by former judges, cannot be overburdened by fixing the timelines for adjudications.
"It is not the end justifying the means, but the means justifying the end," Justice Bagchi said.
"We need to protect due process rights. The voter should not be sandwiched between two constitutional authorities," he said, adding that it would not interdict the election process at this stage.
Justice Bagchi noted that the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice had already formulated the manner and mode for appeals, which began on Monday.
"Unless and until an enormous number of voters are excluded or it materially affects the election... the election cannot be cancelled," the bench said, adding that judicial intervention is intended to "promote elections, not interdict them."
The CJI emphasised that the petitioners must exhaust their remedies before the appellate tribunals.
Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.
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