The Ministry of Defence India has issued the Request for Proposal (RFP) for India’s ambitious indigenous fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme to three shortlisted industry bidders, marking a major step towards strengthening the country’s indigenous aerospace and defence capabilities.
According to defence officials, the shortlisted bidders include the consortiums of Larsen and Toubro–Bharat Electronics Limited, Tata Advanced Systems Limited, and Bharat Forge–BEML.
The AMCA programme, approved last year by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, will be executed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) through an industry partnership model designed to provide equal opportunities to both public and private sector participants on a competitive basis.
The total outlay of the AMCA programme is estimated at around ₹15,000 crore and represents one of India’s most ambitious indigenous military aviation projects.
As part of the programme’s acceleration, Rajnath Singh and N Chandrababu Naidu recently laid the foundation stone for the Core Integration & Flight Testing Centre at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh on May 15, 2026.
The new facility, being established at a cost of nearly ₹2,000 crore, will serve as a crucial infrastructure hub for the development, integration, and testing of the AMCA and other future indigenous aerospace platforms.
Officials stated that the project aims to place India among a select group of nations capable of designing and producing advanced stealth fighter aircraft.
A full-scale model of the AMCA was showcased during Aero India 2025, displaying several advanced features including stealth design, artificial intelligence integration, and next-generation combat capabilities.
Designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency for the Indian Air Force, the aircraft is expected to incorporate AI-enabled systems to improve operational effectiveness, situational awareness, and autonomous combat support functions.
Defence officials noted that the AMCA project aligns with India’s broader “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” vision and is expected to significantly boost indigenous aerospace manufacturing, defence technology development, and strategic self-reliance in advanced combat aviation.
