Bhubaneswar, Jan. 13 -- New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the highest decision-making body for security issues headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the purchase of 83 Tejas Mark 1A fighter jets at a cost of Rs 48,000 crore, including infrastructure.

The CCS approved the largest indigenous defence procurement deal worth about Rs 48,000 crore to strengthen the Indian Air Force's fleet of homegrown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Tejas. "This deal will be a game changer for self reliance in the Indian defence manufacturing," Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.

The LCA-Tejas is going to be the backbone of the IAF fighter fleet in the years to come. LCA-Tejas incorporates a large number of new te...