BANGALORE, Feb 8: India expects to spend about 1.6 billion dollars to buy 40 Russian-built Sukhoi fighter planes, the air force chief said on Thursday as part of an arms purchase spree to bolster firepower.

The government expects to sign a contract to buy the Sukhoi-30 aircraft by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, S.P. Tyagi told reporters at the Bangalore air show.

The fighter jets would come over a three-year delivery schedule, Mr Tyagi told reporters at the Aero India show in Bangalore.

Each plane will cost an estimated 40 million dollars, said Tyagi, adding the air force is also in the international market for 80 heavy-lift helicopters and six transporters.

The announcement comes two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin came to India as the chief guest for the country's Republic Day celebrations on Jan 26.

In addition, the government is proposing to buy 126 multi-role fighter aircraft, a deal potentially worth nine billion dollars, to replace the ageing fleet of Mig-21s -- a deal which is being coveted by the giants of global aerospace.

“There's a whole lot of hardware coming in,” Tyagi said. “We are getting a lot of goodies.”

Purchases would depend on `the price being right’ and the product `being able to do what we require it to’.—AFP