India on Thursday approved proposals worth Rs 70,500 crore for the acquisition of indigenously designed, developed and manufactured military hardware as part of a mega procurement plan that is expected to significantly boost domestic defence manufacturing.
The approval to the procurement proposals was accorded by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
"A meeting of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), held on March 16, 2023 under the chairmanship of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh, has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition amounting to over Rs 70,500 crore under Buy {Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)}," the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.
Persistent efforts are being undertaken to bring self-reliance in the defence sector. Proposals worth Rs 70,500 crore were approved today.
Over Rs 2.71 lakh crore worth of procurement cleared in FY23. 99% to be sourced from Indian industries.https://t.co/Ik3XMhXjMo— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) March 16, 2023
Out of the total proposals, Indian Navy proposals constitute more than Rs 56,000 crore, which largely includes indigenous BrahMos missiles, Shakti Electronic Warfare (EW) systems, Utility Helicopters-Maritime etc.
While this additional procurement of BrahMos missile system will enhance the maritime strike capabilities & Anti-Surface Warfare Operation, the addition of Utility Helicopters will multiply the operational readiness of the Indian Navy in the domain of Search & Rescue operations, Casualty Evacuation, Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR) etc.
Similarly, Shakti EW systems will equip and modernise the frontline Naval ships to counter any Naval Operations by the adversaries, the ministry said.
The ministry said that to keep pace with the emerging technologies and counter the adversaries in the Western and Northern front, the necessity of the new weapons and its integration with the delivery platforms was felt by the Government.
"To achieve the same objectives, the DAC accorded the approval to Indian Air Force’s proposal for Long Range Stand-Off Weapon (LRSOW) which will be indigenously designed, developed and integrated on SU-30 MKI aircraft."
For Artillery modernisation, in addition to the ongoing Dhanush Gun System and K-9 Vajra-T Gun System, AoN for procurement of 155mm/52 Caliber Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) along with High Mobility Vehicles (HMVs) and Gun Towing Vehicles (GTVs) for the Indian Army was accorded by the DAC.
It also accorded AoN for procurement of Advance Light Helicopters (ALH) MK-III from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Coast Guard. The Helicopter will be able to carry a suite of surveillance sensors which will enhance the surveillance capabilities. It will also give full night capability and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) capability for operations of the Indian Coast Guard.
The go-ahead to the fresh procurement proposals came amid the nearly three-year-long standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh with China.
According to the ministry, including today’s proposals, the total AoN granted for Capital Acquisition in the financial year 2022-23 is Rs.2,71,538 Crores, out of which 98.9 percent of the procurement will be sourced from the Indian industries.
Such quantum of indigenous procurement will not only galvanize the Indian industries towards achieving the goal of Aatmanirbhar Bharat but also reduce India’s dependency on foreign vendors to a large extent.
— रक्षा मंत्री कार्यालय/ RMO India (@DefenceMinIndia) March 16, 2023
Also Read: India to spend 75% of defence capital outlay for procurement from domestic firms, says Rajnath Singh
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