Ministry clears way for defence deals worth Rs20,000 crore
22 Jun 2012
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) under the ministry of defence today gave its approval to various weapons acquisition propogrammes of the armed forces, worth a total of about Rs20,000 crore.
The weapons purchases cleared by the DAC headed by defence minister A K Antony include purchase of 14 Dornier aircraft worth about Rs8,500 crore for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and 116 warship (30 mm) guns for the Indian Navy.
The Air Force will also implement its AFNET as a nation-wide command and control communication network, at a cost of Rs7,000 crore.
The proposals cleared today, also include acquisition of quick reaction surface to air missiles (QRSAMs) for the Indian Army. Three regiments of QRSAMs will be inducted during the ongoing 12th Plan period.
The quick approvals come against the backdrop of former Army chief General V K Singh's revelations that 97 per cent of the equipment with the Army was obsolete.
The Army will now float a global tender for the new missile systems that would replace the Russian-origin Kvadrat missiles.
With a Rs10,000-crore tag, this could be one of the largest-ever global contracts floated by the Indian Army. Defence PSU Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) will be the designated partner agency for the maintenance transfer of technology that will be required in the contract.
