Defence ministry clears procurement of military hardware worth Rs 84,560 crore

New Delhi: The Defence Ministry on Friday cleared procurement projects worth more than Rs 84,500 crore, which would include buying 15 maritime surveillance aircraft for the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard and refuelling aircraft for the IAF.

The Defence Acquisition Council, under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, also accorded clearance to procure tactical radar for low-speed and low-flying aircraft and heavy weight torpedos for the Kalvari class submarines.

All the DAC approvals are at the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) level, which is the first step in India’s military procurement process.

A key approval was purchase of 15 C-295 transport aircraft – nine for the Indian Navy and six for the Indian Coast Guard – which will be tailored for maritime surveillance tasks.

To be bought at an approximate cost of around 29,000 crore, the medium-range, maritime reconnaissance multi-mission aircraft would strengthen the surveillance and interdiction capabilities of the navy and coast guard.

“Also to strengthen the air defence systems, especially the capabilities to detect slow, small and low-flying targets as well as surveillance, detection and tracking of different targets, the AoN has been accorded for procurement of air defence tactical control radar,” a Defence Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Other DAC approvals include next generation anti-tank mines, canister launched anti-armour loiter munition system, active towed array sonar, flight refuelling aircraft and software defined radio for the coast guard.

The top defence ministry panel also gave a go ahead to amend the Defence Procurement Procedure 2020 to procure advanced technologies from start-up companies.