India's Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Thursday issued a request for proposal (RFP) to foreign aerospace companies, inviting tenders for co-producing transport aircrafts.

It is the first time when Indian defence ministry has invited tenders from private companies for a manufacturing deal. Thus far, government-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) had been enjoying full monopoly over such deals.

Under the terms of the proposal, aerospace vendors will have to deliver 56 aircrafts, 16 of which in flyaway condition and the remaining 40 of which will have to be produced in facilities to be set up in cooperation with an Indian partner.

The new planes will replace the Indian Air Force's ageing fleet of Hawker Siddeley 748M Avro planes. The worth of the deal has been pegged at around Rs 28,000 crore.

The replacement plane will have a payload capacity of 6-8 tonnes; a cruising speed of 800 kilometers per hour; and a range of 2,500-2,700 kilometers.

The list of companies invited to bid includes American aircraft giant Boeing, Franco-German consortium EADS, Italy's Alenia Aeromacchi, Russia's Ilyushin, and Ukraine's Antonov.

Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne, the chief of the Indian Air Force, strongly backed the project, saying it would create a much-needed aerospace manufacture ecosystem in the private sector.

On September 1, 2011, just months after he took charge as Air Chief Marshal, Browne had told a gathering of Indian aerospace chiefs that the air force required the private sector to support & maintain its expanding fleet.