The General Electric Company of the US has won a bid to supply 99 engines for India's Tejas light combat aircraft ,Tejas Mk-II. It beat European consortium partner Eurojet. Chief controller of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO, Prahlada said, GE Aviation was declared as the lowest bidder. Further price negotiations and contract finalization will follow. He said,it will be completed within two months. AIR correspondent reports, the LCA project has cost an estimated 10,397 crore rupees, of which 2,431 crore was spent on the Mk-II variant that marks the third phase of the indigenous programme. It was launched in 1983 but has suffered delays. Tejas Mk-II is likely to get its initial operational clearance by December and the final operational clearance is likely by January 2012.The first two phases of the programme saw the development of LCA Mk-I, which uses the GE-404 engine. The air force has placed orders for two squadrons of the aircraft and orders for another two squadrons are in the pipeline. State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is manufacturing the aircraft. The GE-414 engines will be developed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) in Bangalore in collaboration with other DRDO agencies such as Aeronautical Development Agency and HAL.The Kaveri engine, which is in the advance stage of development at GTRE, will be fitted in the first generation LCA Mk-1.