While inaugurating a Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) helicopter factory in Tumakuru on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at the Opposition, which had questioned his government’s decision to prefer Reliance Defence to the HAL as the offset partner in the controversial Rafale deal.
“The Opposition targeted my party over the HAL and wasted precious working hours of Parliament. This is the same HAL whose name was taken to instigate people. Today the HAL’s growth has exposed them. The HAL is manufacturing Tejas fighter jets and strengthening the vision of ‘aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) India. In the last eight years, the investment in the aerospace sector in India has been five times higher than what it used to be before 2014,” Modi said.
