Defence Acquisition Council approves arms procurement worth Rs 28,732 crore
The decision was taken at a meeting of the council headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The Centre on Tuesday approved arms procurement proposals worth a total of Rs 28,732 crore, including bulletproof jackets, carbines and swarm drones.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
“Acceptance of Necessity [AoN] for Capital Acquisition Proposals of the Armed Forces amounting to Rs 28,732 crore were accorded by the DAC in this meeting under Buy [Indian IDDM] and Buy (Indian) categories giving a further boost to ‘Atma Nirbharta’ in Defence,” the Union government said in a press release.
Considering the demand for enhanced protection against the threat of enemy snippers to our troops deployed along the Line of Control, and in close combat operations in counter-terrorism scenario, the DAC accorded AoN for Bullet Proof Jackets, carbines and swarm drones.
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) July 26, 2022
The council approved bulletproof jackets with Indian Standard BIS VI level of protection in view of the threat of enemy snippers to troops deployed along the Line of Control. Such jackets may also be required in close combat counterterrorism operations, the defence ministry said.
“To combat the current complex paradigm of conventional and hybrid warfare and counter-terrorism at the LAC [Line of Actual Control] and Eastern Borders, AoN for induction of approximately 4 lakh of close quarter battle carbines for the Services have also been accorded by the DAC,” the ministry added.
The Centre also approved the procurement of autonomous surveillance and armed drone swarms.
Further, the council approved a proposal from the Navy to procure an upgraded 1250 kilo-watt capacity Marine Gas Turbine Generator for power generation.
On February 1, the Union finance ministry allocated Rs 5.25 lakh crore for the Ministry of Defence, which amounted to 13.31% of the total budget for 2022-’23. At the time, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that 68% of the capital procurement outlay for the armed forces would be set aside for the domestic industry in 2022-’23.
