For 10 months now, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s (HAL’s) proposal to manufacture 83 Tejas Mark 1A fighters, which the ministry of defence (MoD) green-lighted in December 2017, has been pending with the Indian Air Force (IAF). With no clearance forthcoming from the IAF’s “technical evaluation committee” (TEC), the project remains in limbo.

HAL’s commercial bid remains unopened and an actual production order, at a price to be fixed by a “cost-negotiating committee”, is nowhere in sight. This Tejas Mark 1A order, worth Rs 50,000 ...