Lockheed had agreed to manufacture F-16 fighter jets in an Indian unit.
If Trump is a man who stands by his words, the repercussions of Americans electing the businessman will make its way to India within months after the new administration takes the oath.
According to reports, there loom uncertainties over many proposed projects, one such being the Lockheed Martin agreement to manufacture F-16 fighter jets in an Indian unit.
Earlier, the Lockheed Martin offered to shift its manufacturing unit of F-16 from Fort Worth to India if it received the contract to build hundreds of fighter planes for India. But with Trump calling for bring back all manufacturing units to the US, the deal is hanging loose on the cliff.
A high-level official was quoted by The Washington Post saying: “What will be the U.S. policy posture now that the new president-elect is in the Is he going to continue the policy of engaging in India on co-production and co-development? All of those are unknown at this point.”
One of the election slogans that Trump put forward was to bring back jobs to the US by penalizing the US companies that operated manufacturing units from foreign countries. One such move was made last week when Trump came in terms with Carrier, the US-based Air-condition to keep 1000 jobs in Indiana that were earlier parked for Mexico in exchange for millions in state tax breaks.
India has been pushing the ‘Make in India’ campaign and the report says the deal to co-manufacture fighter jets was one of the landmark agreements. The American manufacturer Lockheed is competing with the Swedish company Gripen fighters and Boeing’s F/A-18 to win the contract. Even though the selection in this front is yet to be taken, there already seems to be many discussions happening around it on the future of the agreement between India and Lockheed to set up a manufacturing unit.
For the past several years, the production of F-16 fighter jets from Fort Worth center has been widening down as there has been a shift to make more F-35s. If Lockheed wins the contract, the proposed manufacturing center in India can drive more job opportunities for Indians.