In a move which would provide a substantial boost to the country's defence industry and reduce foreign spending significantly, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today cleared acquisition proposals amounting to Rs 76,390 crore.
The preliminary approval was granted under the 'Buy (Indian)', 'Buy & Make (Indian)' and 'Buy Indian IDDM' (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) categories during the meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Monday.
For the Indian Army, the DAC accorded fresh Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to procure Rough Terrain Fork Lift Trucks (RTFLTs), Bridge Laying Tanks (BLTs), Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (Wh AFVs) with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) and Weapon Locating Radars (WLRs) through domestic sources with emphasis on indigenous design and development.
For the Indian Navy, the DAC accorded AoN for procurement of Next Generation Corvettes (NGC) at an estimated cost of Rs 36,000 crore. These NGCs will be versatile platforms for variety of roles like surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, Surface Action Group (SAG) operations, Search & Attack and Coastal Defence. These would be constructed based on new in-house design of Indian Navy using latest technology of ship building 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 manufacture of Dornier Aircrafts and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by the Navratna CPSE Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with focus on enhancing indigenisation particularly in indigenising aero-engine material.
In pursuance of the government’s vision for digital transformation in defence, the ‘Digital Coast Guard’ project under ‘Buy (Indian) category has been approved by the DAC. Under this project, a pan India secure network for digitising of various surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and HR processes in Coast Guard will be established.
The move essentially embodies the spirit of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and will help facilitate realising the country’s journey towards self-reliance in the defence sector.
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