Deliveries of the much-awaited indigenous jet, Tejas Mark 1A, are expected to start early in the next fiscal starting April 1.The development comes after the Indian Air Force (IAF) laid down a list of ‘essentials’ before accepting the plane. However, the IAF has agreed to allow some exemptions from contractual obligations to plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.The terms were agreed upon in conjunction with the Ministry of Defence, which is the majority stake holder in the HAL, sources said.The exemptions would mean that the promised equipment would be integrated as the production of the jet progresses. This further means that the IAF has agreed to incorporate various systems after accepting the plane. The integration of these systems would take another year.Sources said the Air Force was ready to accept the plane once the final testing of missile firing and its certification was done. Separately, full integration of Israeli-origin radar with the indigenous Electronic Warfare systems, and the weapons package also needs to be completed.The IAF has listed these tasks as ‘essential’ before the jet is accepted. At a meeting with the Ministry of Defence and the IAF, the HAL has agreed to complete these tasks by April. The IAF will then carry out its own ‘acceptance trials’ that could take a few weeks.Sources confirmed to The Tribune that the plane maker had carried out the test of air launched missiles and other tests.The Tejas Mark 1A made its maiden flight in October last year. It is an upgraded version of the Tejas, which is already in the IAF fleet. The IAF has placed an order of making 180 Tejas Mark 1A.The deliveries were to start in March 2024, but has been delayed due to multiple reasons, including delay in the supply of engines from the US plane maker, General Electric.Earlier this month, the HAL, in a statement, had said that it was ready with five ‘fully ready’ Tejas Mark 1A fighter jets and another nine jets were ready at the factory, awaiting engines from the General Electric (GE), the HAL had said.The HAL had said “it is confirmed that five aircraft are fully ready for delivery, incorporating major contracted capabilities in accordance with the agreed specifications”All design and development issues identified are being addressed in an expedited manner. The HAL is in active discussions with the Indian Air Force to deliver the aircraft at the earliest, the company had said, adding “it will meet the guidance (timeline) projected for the current financial year”.Sources said a delay in supplies of F404 engines has set back the delivery schedule of the Tejas Mark 1A jet. HAL is producing 180 of these planes for the Air Force. Deliveries of the plane were to start in March 2024, and the engines should have come before that date.A delay in supplies of contracted equipment of the GE F404 engines needed for the under production Tejas Mark 1A fighter jet has become irksome for India. In July last year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asked his US counterpart Pete Hegseth to fast-track the delivery.New Delhi is commercially committed to US-origin supplies of engines needed for fighter jets. Since the US-India relations soured last year, supplies of engines for Tejas Mark 1A fighter jets have been delayed.