Giving a fillip to the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Wednesday approved the procurement of military hardware worth Rs 13,165 crore, including 25 indigenously-developed ALH Mark-III helicopters and rocket ammunition. “The Defence Ministry has approved the procurement of military hardware worth Rs 13,165 crore. The procurement of military hardware approved by the ministry includes 25 advanced light helicopters and rocket ammunition,” officials were quoted as saying by a news agency.
he cost of acquiring the helicopters has been estimated at Rs 3,850 crore, while a batch of rocket ammunition will be procured for Rs 4,962 crore, the defence ministry said.
The procurement proposals were approved at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) that was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Out of the total procurements, equipment and platforms worth Rs 11,486 crore will be sourced from domestic entities.
"The DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisitions proposals for modernisation and operational needs of the Indian Armed Forces amounting to approximately Rs 13,165 crore. Of the total amount approved, procurement worth Rs 11,486 crore (87 percent) is from the domestic sources," the ministry said in a statement.
In addition, the DAC approved a few amendments to the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 as a part of "business process re-engineering to ensure further ease of doing business for the industry as well as measures to enhance procurement efficiency and reducing timelines", the ministry said.
This comes at a time when the Centre has asked Indian defence manufacturers to boost their production. Singh recently said that the share of procurement from domestic industry has increased to nearly 65 per cent for defence modernisation, and from private domestic industry to 15 per cent. Speaking at the annual session of the industry body Society of Indian Defence, Singh said, “It is a big deal for all that the percentage of domestic procurement has increased to 64.09 per cent in the amount allocated for defence modernisation. Also, the percentage of direct procurement from private sectors in domestic capital procurement has become 15 per cent.”
He also said that the government is “providing a suitable growth environment to the private sector” and highlighted that “we have opened up opportunities to build a mega defence programme for fighter aircraft, helicopters, tanks and submarines through a strategic partnership model”.
Earlier this year, the Centre approved budgetary support of nearly Rs 499 crore for research and innovation in the defence sector for the next five years.
Last week, the Centre placed an order for 118 new Arjun Mk-1A battle tanks, which have superior firepower, all-terrain mobility and multi-layered protection compared to older models. Arjun has been a mainstay of the Army for the last 15 years. The new tanks, developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation, will be manufactured at the government’s Heavy Vehicles Factory in Chennai. The order is worth Rs 7,523 crore.
(With inputs from agencies)