India bids to sell fighter jets to Malaysia, says six other countries interested

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, keen to reduce India's reliance on foreign defence equipment, has also been making diplomatic efforts to export the jets. The Tejas has been beset by design and other challenges, and was once rejected by the Indian Navy as too heavy.

NEW DELHI: India has offered to sell 18 light-combat aircraft (LCA) "Tejas" to Malaysia, the defence ministry said on Friday, adding that Argentina, Australia, Egypt, the United States, Indonesia, and the Philippines were also interested in the single-engine jet.

The Indian government last year gave a $6 billion contract to state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd HIAE.NS for 83 of the locally produced Tejas jets for delivery starting around 2023 - four decades after it was first approved in 1983.