NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at lifting the domestic industry, the Ministry of Defence on Monday approved the procurement of military hardware worth Rs 76,390 crore. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, which approved the proposals, also pushed for indigenisation of the aero engines. The Army, Navy and Coast Guard will benefit from these approvals.
“For the Indian Army, the DAC accorded fresh AoNs (acceptance of necessity) for procurement of rough terrain fork lift 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,” the defence ministry said in a statement. For the Navy, the DAC accorded AoN for procurement of next generation corvettes (NGCs) at an estimated cost of approximately `36,000 crore, the ministry added.
“These NGCs will be versatile platforms for a variety of roles viz. surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, surface action group operations, search & attack and coastal defence,” the defence ministry statement read.
AoN is the government stamp that the proposal from the forces is accepted. These NGCs would be constructed based on the new in-house design of the Indian Navy using the latest technology of ship building.
The projects will be executed under ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ and ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ categories. This will provide a substantial boost to the Indian defence industry and cut foreign spending.
Engines for aircraft are becoming the focus area for the government. “The DAC accorded AoNs for manufacture of Dornier aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by Hindustan Aeronautics with focus on enhancing indigenisation particularly in indigenising aero-engine material,” it added.
Digital Coast Guard
DAC has also approved the Digital Coast Guard project under Buy (Indian). The aim is to build a pan-India secure network to digitise surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and HR processes in Coast Guard.