Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh on Thursday said the procurement process for India’s advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA) was progressing and a request for proposal (RFP) likely to be issued soon to shortlisted private sector players.Speaking at a security summit here, Singh said “the procurement process is on (for the fifth-generation AMCA programme), the RFP hopefully would be released soon to the shortlisted bidders who happen to be from the private sector and hopefully that will then pick up pace”.In June last year, the Aeronautical Development Agency, under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), invited expressions of interest (EoI) from Indian companies to develop and then produce the AMCA. The shortlisted entity needs to possess the capability of setting up manufacturing facility for series production.The RFP will be issued to Indian companies (owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens) who are capable of building prototypes. For the first time, the Ministry of Defence has allowed Indian private players to participate in the bidding for developing a fighter jet.The companies for the project need to have the capability to absorb the design of AMCA and have adequate experience in the field of development, engineering, manufacturing, integration of systems and quality management.On future combat aviation plans, the Defence Secretary said India was also exploring partnerships for developing sixth-generation fighter aircraft. He noted that the government had reached out to two ongoing international programmes and expressed willingness to collaborate. “We’ve made it clear…that we are interested and we could consider partnering them for a sixth generation fighter program. Let’s see what the response is,” Singh said.Addressing concerns over the absence of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) from key upcoming aerospace projects such as AMCA and Rafale-related production, Singh said diversifying production capabilities was strategically beneficial. “I would imagine that putting all your eggs in one basket is not a good idea,” he said, adding, “We would be perfectly happy if HAL were there in AMCA. But even if they are not, I would imagine this is the prototype stage, so at the production stage they could still get their chance.”A redundancy is needed in having separate production lines hedging bets across different industry partners, rather confining to one particular case as supply chain vulnerability tends to get concentrated, Singh added.He said efforts were underway to plug critical gaps in the IAF, including fighter aircraft, refuellers and Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), with contracts for all three categories expected to be signed within the next year.