INTRODUCTION: India’s quest to develop its own fighter jet engine got a boost after a $2-million consultancy agreement was finalized with leading French defense manufacturer Safran to help revive the Kaveri project. The GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri is an after burning turbofan project developed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab under the DRDO in Bangalore India. BACKGROUND: An Indian design, the Kaveri was originally intended to power production models of the HAL Tejas fighter, also known as the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) being built by the Aeronautical Development Agency. The Kaveri program failed to satisfy the necessary technical requirements or keep up with its envisaged timelines, and was officially delinked from the LCA program in September 2008. The main issue was that, it was unable to provide the required power thrust. Low thrust affects speed and maneuverability of the aircrafts adversely. The project was stalled in 2014. The Kaveri program has attracted much criticism due to its ambitious objective, prolonged development time, cost overruns, and the DRDO's lack of clarity and openness in admitting problems. The Hal LCA are currently powered by American GE 4 0 4 engines. SAFRAN: Safran. is a French multinational aircraft engine, rocket engine, aerospace-component, defense, and security company. It was formed by a merger between the aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer and aerospace component manufacturer group SNECMA, and the security company SAGEM in 2005. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Safran has extensive exposure of engine development, and is also the maker of the M88 engine that powers the Dassault Rafael fighter. CURRENT STATE: On 20 November 2016, DRDO Director General for Aeronautics Cluster, C P Ramanarayanan confirmed that DRDO and the French company have tied up for the Kaveri project. Safran is slated to revive and certify the engine, as part of the offsets deal for Dassault Rafael jets purchased by India. A detailed joint development plan will be drawn up that could use offset credits — the obligation is 50% of contract cost, which translates to over 3 billion euros — coming from the Rafael fighter jet deal. An initial assessment by the French company show that 25-30% more work is needed for the Kaveri engine to be combat-worthy. French side has proposed to make the engine flight-worthy within 18 months for integration into the LCA by 2020. CONCLUSION: LCA has been inducted into the Indian Air Force. This is the first fighter jet India has developed. Engine is one of the most important parts of any fighter plane, and hence India wants to have an indigenous one. The solid expertise of Safran in engine design is expected to resolve the complicated issues of Kaveri engine.