In a major boost to indigenous manufacturing of weapons, the Government on Friday approved nine acquisition proposals totaling over Rs 45,000 crore. These deals include procurement of 12 SU-30 fighter jets, light armoured multipurpose vehicles (LAMV) and air to surface missiles.
The acceptance of necessity (AoN) for these deals were given in a meeting of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) here chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The DAC is the apex body to approve acquisition proposals by the three Services.
All the procurements cleared on Friday 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”.
Giving details of the deals, Defence Ministry officials said the AoN for procurement of 12 SU-30 MKI Aircraft with associated equipment from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was accorded.
At present IAF has nearly 260 fourth generation SU-30 MKI fighter aircraft.
To enhance protection, mobility, attack capability and increased survivability of Mechanised Forces, the DAC accorded the AoN for procurement of LAMV and Integrated Surveillance and Targeting System (ISAT-S). The apex body also cleared a deal for procurement of High Mobility Vehicle (HMV) Gun Towing Vehicles for swift mobilisation and deployment of Artillery Guns and Radars.
The DAC also approved procurement of Next Generation Survey Vessels for the Indian Navy which will greatly enhance its capabilities in performing Hydrographic Operations.
The DAC also gave the nod for proposals of the Indian Air Force which included avionic upgradation of Dornier Aircraft to improve the accuracy and reliability for operations. The go-ahead for avionics upgrade of the Dornier fleet is considered significant as technical snags were reported in the aircraft on a number of occasions earlier this year, sources said.
The procurement of Dhruvastra short range Air-to-Surface Missile as a potent Indigenous Precision Guided Weapon for indigenously built ALH Mk-IV Helicopters was also cleared by the DAC.
During the meeting, Rajnath stated that it is time to upgrade the ambitions towards indigenisation. “Rather than a threshold of 50 per cent indigenous content for IDDM projects, we should aim for a minimum 60-65per cent indigenous content,” he said.
Rajnath directed the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, Defence Secretary and Director General(Acquisition) to work towards increasing the minimum indigenous content threshold in consultation with the Indian Industry.
The Government has focused on fast development of the Indian defence industry and earmarked 75 per cent of this year’s defence capital procurement budget for buying weapons and systems from local manufacturers.
India set aside 68 per cent of the military’s capital acquisition budget for making indigenous purchases in 2022-23, 64 per cent in 2021-22, and 58 per cent in 2020-21.
In the Union Budget announced on February 1, India set aside Rs 5.94 lakh crore for defence spending in 2023-24, with the allocation almost 12 per cent higher than that in last year’s budget estimates, and about 2 per cent more compared to that in the revised estimates for 2022-23.
India allocated Rs 5.25 lakh crore for military spending in last year’s budget, Rs 4.78 lakh crore in 2021-22, and Rs 4.71 lakh crore the year before.
Around Rs one lakh crore has been set aside for domestic procurement this year, compared to Rs 84,598 crore, Rs 70,221 crore and Rs 51,000 crore in the three previous years.
Moreover, the Government has stopped import of more than 250 weapon and allied systems including warships, artillery guns, light combat aircraft, basic trainers, a variety of helicopters, radars, and different types of ammunition. The Services will now have to procure indigenously designed and manufactured weapon systems.
