Larsen & Toubro on September 23, 2025 unveiled a strategic tie-up with Bharat Electronics to form a consortium aimed at supporting the Indian Air Force’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme, with plans to respond to the Aeronautical Development Agency’s Expression of Interest (EoI) soon by combining L&T’s aerospace platform expertise and BEL’s defence-electronics strengths. Both firms pointed to their prior involvement in the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft programme—delivering aero-structure modules and mission-critical avionics—as well as their alignment with India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat push in defence manufacturing. This announcement comes after the Defence Ministry, on May 26, 2025, approved the AMCA Programme Execution Model that empowers ADA to drive the project via public and private industry partnerships, issuing the EoI in June 2025 (with a response deadline later extended to September 30, 2025) for prototype development, flight testing and certification. The scheme allows bids from single firms or consortiums and has drawn interest from both public and private entities, including HAL, which is reportedly forming its own consortium. The AMCA is envisioned as a fifth-generation stealth fighter delivering advanced avionics, supercruise and internal weapon bays, with the first prototype rollout expected by 2026–2027, maiden flight by 2028–2029, certification by around 2032, and induction beginning circa 2034–2035, all under a timeline capped at eight years from contract signature