India to procure 97 Tejas jets, 156 Prachand helicopters

Defence ministry said 98 per cent of the total procurement worth R2.23 lakh crore will be sourced from the domestic industries. Pic/Twitter

India on Thursday accorded an initial approval to defence acquisition projects worth Rs 2.23 lakh crore that included procurement of 97 Tejas light combat aircraft and 156 Prachand combat helicopters, in a major move to significantly enhance the combat capabilities of the armed forces.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, cleared the projects, at a time India is locked in a bitter military standoff with China at a number of friction points in eastern Ladakh for over three years. The defence ministry said 98 per cent of the total procurement worth R2.23 lakh crore will be sourced from the domestic industries and that the move will give a substantial boost to the Indian defence industry in achieving the goal of ‘Aatmanirbharta' (self-reliance) in defence industry.

The DAC also approved a proposal of the Indian Air Force to upgrade its Su-30 fighter fleet by state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). The DAC further accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) or initial approval for procurement of two types of anti-tank munitions namely area denial munition (ADM) type-2 and type-3.

The top body on procurement of military hardware also cleared acquisition and integration of automatic target tracker (ATT) and digital basaltic computer (DBC) for T-90 tanks besides approving another proposal to buy medium range anti-ship missiles (MRAShM) for the Indian Navy. The MRAShM is a lightweight surface-to-surface missile which will be a primary offensive weapon onboard various Indian naval ships.

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