Cost of India’s Kaveri engine up seven-fold

The Kaveri powerplant for India's Aeronautical Development Agency/Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd Tejas light combat aircraft has experienced cost overruns seven times the initial estimate, while costs for the Tejas Mk II and naval variant of the Tejas have also risen sharply.

The cost of developing the Kaveri was revised to Indian rupees (Rs) 28.39 billion ($560 million) in 2009, up from the original estimate of Rs3.83 billion allocated to the project in 1996, says Indian minister of defence A K Antony in a written reply to a question in parliament.

Costs involving the Tejas Mk II have nearly doubled to Rs57.77 billion from an expected Rs33.02 billion, while costs involving the naval Tejas have risen to Rs17.5 billion from Rs9.48 billion.

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