In February 2026, the Indian Defence Ministry announced that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) did not qualify to participate in the project to build India's next-generation stealth fighter jet. According to Defence Secretary RK Singh, speaking at the NDTV Defence Summit, the rejection was based on "routine technical grounds."

Official ministry sources clarified that the bidding process saw seven different consortia express interest in the project. However, only three of those groups met the government's mandatory technical and financial requirements. HAL, which had submitted its bid in partnership with two smaller firms, was among the four consortia that failed to meet the necessary criteria to move forward in the selection process.

The government has maintained that the disqualification is a standard administrative procedure rather than a reflection of the state-run firm's overall capabilities. The project remains a high-priority initiative for India's defense modernization, aimed at developing advanced stealth capabilities domestically. While the Defence Ministry has provided the broad reasoning for the disqualification, specific details regarding the exact technical shortcomings of the HAL-led bid have not been publicly disclosed.