India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) is about to expand into civil aviation, the company’s top official says. According to HAL Chairman R. K. Tyagi, India authorities have asked the company to take a primary role in the proposed $14 billion national civil aircraft program to develop a regional transport aircraft. The same authorities also want HAL involved in the design, development and manufacture of unmanned aerial systems.

BENGALURU — Boeing wants to sell its ScanEagle and Integrator UAVs to India, and also hopes to interest the country in the V-22 Osprey, according to Dennis Swanson, president of Boeing Defense, Space and Security’s Indian operations. “We see a market in India for ScanEagle that can help provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data or communications relay,” Swanson tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the ninth Aero India show in Bengaluru.

BENGALURU — India expects to sign a contract to purchase up to 126 Dassault Rafale fighters by the middle of this year, the country’s air force chief says, trying to put to rest speculation that recently announced budget cuts could delay the acquisition. The government has cut defense spending for its current fiscal year ending March 31 by about 5% from the originally allocated 1.93 trillion rupees ($38.6 billion), mainly due to the ongoing economic downturn (Aerospace DAILY, Feb. 7).