Defence Ministry clears ₹76,390 crore proposal to buy India-made arms, ammunitions

Defence Acquisition Council on Monday cleared capital acquisition proposals of the Armed Forces amounting to ₹76,390 crore to ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ and ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ categories. The decision came during a Defence Acquisition Council meeting chaired by Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh. This step will significantly boost the Indian Defence Industry and reduce foreign spending, the defence ministry said. 

These include procurement of rough terrain forklift trucks, bridge laying tanks, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles with anti-tank guided missiles and weapon locating radars through domestic sources with emphasis on indigenous design and development - for the Indian Army."For the Indian Navy, the DAC accorded AoN for procurement of next-generation corvettes (NGCs) at an estimated cost of approx ₹36,000 crore. These NGCs will be versatile platforms for a variety of roles viz. surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, surface action group (SAG) operations, search and attack and coastal defence," a defence ministry statement said. It added that these NGCs would be constructed based on the new in-house design of the Indian Navy using the latest technology of shipbuilding and would contribute to further the government’s initiative of "SAGAR (security and growth for all in the region)".The DAC also accorded AoNs for the manufacture of Dornier aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by the Navratna CPSE M/s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with a focus on enhancing indigenisation, particularly in indigenising aero-engine material.