Procurement of military hardware worth Rs 45,000 cr cleared by Defence Ministry

The Defence Ministry on Friday cleared procurement of various weapons systems and platforms including Dhruvastra short range air-to-surface missile and 12 Su-30 MKI fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 45,000 crore.

A total of nine procurement proposals were approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, officials said.

"All these procurements will be made from Indian vendors under Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured (IDMM)/Buy (Indian) category which will give substantial boost to the Indian defence Industry towards achieving the goal of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'," the defence ministry said.

To enhance protection, mobility, attack capability and increase survivability of mechanised forces, the DAC accorded the approval for procurement of Light Armoured Multipurpose Vehicles (LAMV) and Integrated Surveillance and Targeting System (ISAT-S), the ministry said in a statement.

The DAC also cleared the procurement of High Mobility Vehicle (HMV) Gun Towing Vehicles for swift mobilisation and deployment of artillery guns and radars.

The DAC further approved procurement of next generation survey vessels for the Indian Navy, the ministry said.

It said a proposal of the Indian Air Force to ensure avionic upgrade of Dornier aircraft to improve the accuracy and reliability for operations were also given Acceptance of Necessity (AoN). The AoN is the initial approval.

"The procurement of Dhruvastra Short Range Air-to-Surface Missile as a potent Indigenous Precision Guided Weapon for indigenously built ALH Mk-IV Helicopters has been cleared by the DAC," the ministry said.

"The AoN for procurement of 12 Su-30 MKI Aircraft with associated equipment from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was also accorded," it said.