Rajnath Singh inaugurates 7-storey R&D facility built by DRDO in record 45 days
Bengaluru, Mar 17: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday inaugurated a multi-storey facility for flight control system at Aeronautical Development Establishment here built by India's premier defence research institute DRDO in a record 45 days using in-house technology.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was among those present on the occasion.
The seven-storey building, with a plinth area of 1.3 lakh square feet, will house research and development facilities for the development of a fifth-generation medium weight deep penetration fighter jet for the Indian Air Force.
"The DRDO has completed the construction of a multi-storey infrastructure for flight control system at ADE Bengaluru with hybrid technology consisting of conventional, pre-engineered and precast methodology in record 45 days," said one of the DRDO officials.
He said the complex will have facilities for developing avionics for fighter aircraft and flight control system (FCS) for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project.
India has been working on the ambitious AMCA project to develop a fifth-generation medium fighter jet with advanced stealth features to significantly bolster its air power capability.
The initial development cost of the project, being undertaken by the ADE, has been estimated at around Rs 15,000 crore.
The Defence ministry on Monday said it has initiated the process of obtaining the approval for the design and prototype development of the AMCA from the prime minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security.
Officials said the building has been constructed using composite construction technology in the "shortest time frame" of just 45 days to provide the necessary infrastructure for the AMCA project and related activities.
The foundation stone for the project was laid on Nov 22, 2021, and actual construction began on February 1.
"It is a unique record of completing a permanent seven-storey building with hybrid construction technology, that too in ready-to-move condition for the first time in the country, the official involved in the project claimed.
In hybrid construction technology, the column and beam elements of the structural frame are built with steel plates, the columns are of hollow steel tubular section.
The building features air-conditioning, electrical and fire protection systems as per the standard national building code and the design check and technical support was provided by teams from IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee, the officials said.
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RBI keeps policy rate unchanged amid inflationary pressure
Mumbai (PTI): The Reserve Bank on Wednesday expectedly kept interest rates unchanged amid hopes of a global recovery on the back of ceasefire in the six-week-long US/Israel-Iran conflict.
The policy decision comes as a month and a-half-long West Asia conflict has disrupted energy supplies, shot up crude oil prices and created fiscal and inflationary pressures for import-dependent nations like India.
This is the first monetary policy review after the government announced a fresh inflation target for the RBI last month. The government has asked the RBI to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side for another five years ending March 2031.
Announcing the first bi-monthly monetary policy for the current fiscal, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has unanimously decided to retain short-term lending rate or repo rate at 5.25 per cent with a neutral stance.
The rate cut pause comes on the back of the consumer price index (CPI) based headline retail inflation that moved closer to the RBI's medium-term target of 4 per cent at 3.21 per cent in February.
Additionally, the rupee has depreciated by over 4 per cent since the war, which has consequences for pushing up import inflation.
However, the rupee has appreciated by 50 paise to 92.56 against US dollar following announcement of the ceasefire by the US and Iran.
Based on the recommendation of the MPC, the RBI reduced the repo rate by 25 bps each in February, April, and December 2025 and 50 basis points in June amidst easing retail inflation.
India's retail inflation dropped to a historic low of 0.25 per cent in October 2025, marking the lowest level since the Consumer Price Index (CPI) series was introduced.
However, the rupee declined to historic low and crossed 95 against a dollar last month making imports costlier, raising fears of rise in inflation. Rupee touched a record low of 95.21 on March 30, 2026.
