According to the Defense Ministry’s statement on Thursday, the federal government has given its approval to proposals totaling Rs 70,500 crore to purchase a variety of military hardware for the armed forces. At a meeting that took place today, the Defense procurement Council (DAC) granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital procurement in order to purchase weapons that are designed, developed, and manufactured within the country.
According to the ministry, the Indian Navy’s proposals account for more than Rs 56,000 crore out of the total proposals. These proposals primarily involve the development of indigenous BrahMos missiles, Shakti Electronic Warfare (EW) systems, utility helicopters-maritime, and other similar technologies.
The Minister of Defense, Rajnath Singh, stated in a tweet that ongoing attempts are being made to achieve self-reliance in the defense industry. “Today, proposals totaling 70,500 billion rupees were given the green light.”
According to the government, while this additional procurement of BrahMos missile system will enhance the maritime strike capabilities and anti-surface warfare operation, the addition of utility helicopters will multiply the operational readiness of the Indian Navy in the domain of search and rescue operations, as well as casualty evacuation. This was stated in a statement.
In a similar vein, it was stated that Shakti EW systems will be used to outfit and modernize the frontline military ships in order to defend against any naval operations carried out by the adversaries.
“To keep pace with the emerging technologies and counter the adversaries in the western and northern front,” the ministry said, referring to tensions at the borders with Pakistan and China. “The necessity of the new weapons and its integration with the delivery platforms was felt by the government,” the statement continued. “To keep pace with the emerging technologies and counter the adversaries in the western and northern front.”
According to the ministry, the council has given its approval to the Indian Air Force’s proposal for a Long Range Stand-Off Weapon (LRSOW) that will be indigenously designed, developed, and integrated on SU-30 MKI aircraft. This approval was given in order to accomplish the same objectives.
For the purpose of artillery modernization, the proposal to buy the Indian Army high mobility vehicles (HMVs), sophisticated towed artillery gun systems with calibers of 155mm and 52, and gun towing vehicles has been approved. This is in addition to the Dhanush Gun System and the K-9 Vajra-T Gun System, which are both currently in development.
Additionally, the government has given its approval for the Indian Coast Guard to purchase sophisticated light helicopters MK-III from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). This approval was given by the government. The chopper will have the capacity to transport a full array of monitoring equipment, which will significantly improve its surveillance capabilities. According to the ministry, this will also provide the Indian Coast Guard with the ability to conduct operations under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR), which will allow for complete night capabilities.
As a result of the recommendations made today, the total amount of AoN that will be awarded for capital acquisition in the Financial Year 2022-2023 is over Rs. 2.71 lakh crore, and 99 percent of the procurement will be sourced from Indian industries. According to the ministry, an amount of indigenous procurement on this scale will motivate Indian businesses to work toward the objective of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”
