New Delhi: Making it clear that the government is in no mood to ditch made-in-India Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the fighter jet has serious export potential.

In an informal briefing, Ms Sitharaman said, “There is no way in which we are forgetting LCA Tejas. Recently, the Defence Minister of Singapore flew the aircraft. Many countries are talking about Tejas. We love to supply to all those countries who wish to have it.”

Last month, the Air Force Chiefs of France and the United States both flew a sortie on trainer variant of the Tejas fighters.

The minister also made it clear that the government is working to ensure that the "per year manufacturing capability of Tejas must increase."

The ministry of defence has asked public sector major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to speed up production of the Tejas fighter jets. 

“They have been asked to look at outsourcing of work to speed up matters. The government remains committed on the Tejas. The Mark-II version of the plane is being made. It will be a big leap forward,” she said.