Russian SU-30 and indigenously manufactured SU-30MKI are not the same, hence, one to one comparison of cost may not be appropriate.
The higher cost of indigenously manufactured SU-30MKI is due to following factors:-
- Additional modifications are incorporated in the indigenous Su-30MKI to enhance the operational capability and to suit Indian Air Force (IAF) requirements.
- Being a Transfer of Technology (ToT) programme, cost is involved towards payment of license fee to Russian side.
- Owing to the low volume of production of Indian SU-30 MKI as compared to Russian SU-30, economies of scale come into play.
- Import of raw materials and proprietary components from Russia involves dependency on Russian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for the offered kit costs, which are not proportionate with the kit contents.
- However, indigenous manufacturing has created advanced skill sets in the country, a step towards self-reliance and will result in lower Life Cycle Cost and reduced dependency on OEM on repair & maintenance and faster turn-around time and quick support to IAF bases.
- Since the facilities are indigenously established, future production supplies is likely to be cheaper if new order for bulk production is placed on HAL.
- The Contract for upgradation of 61 Jaguar Display, Attack, Range and Inertial Navigation-I (DARIN-I) aircraft to DARIN-III standard was signed with HAL in December 2009.
