India's First Light Combat Aircraft 'Tejas' gets Initial Operational Clearance

• Tejas aircraft granted initial clearance after spending Rs12,000 crore in 27 years.
• The LCA project has spent Rs.12,000 crore of the Rs.25,000 crore sanctioned.
• It still has only 60% indigenous content, said DRDO chief Dr VK Saraswat.
• He said by the time the aircraft gets its Final Operational Clearance (FOC), expected in December 2012, it would be over 75 % indigenised.
• The plan is to build 200 LCAs, 140 for the IAF and the remaining for the navy. Each fighter aircraft costs Rs200 crore, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited chairman Ashok Nayak said.