New Delhi, May 30 -- In a boost to India's indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities, the first centre fuselage assembly for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A was handed over to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) by VEM Technologies in Hyderabad on May 30, the Ministry of Defence said in a release on Friday.

The handover took place in the presence of Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar and Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of HAL, Dr DK Sunil.

According to the release, this marks the first time a major sub-assembly for the LCA Tejas has been manufactured by a private Indian company.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar hailed the partnership between HAL and VEM Technologies fo...