Indian government has endorsed the funding of licensed production of another 40 Su-30 MKI fighter jets within the framework of agreements with Russia, Itar-Tass reported Friday. A new contract with Russia's jet manufacturer Sukhoi will be signed in the current financial year ending in March. The price of one such fighter is estimated by Indian experts at around US$40 million, Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi told journalists at the sixth air show Aero-India 2007. India's intention to expand the programme of the Su-30 MKI's license production was included in the protocol of Russia-India intergovernmental commission on military cooperation that met in New Delhi on Jan 24. Under the contract signed in 2000, India's major aerospace manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited was to produce about ten warplanes a year, bringing the total to 140.
