Govt to buy arms worth ₹16,000 cr

NEW DELHI: Indian troops manning the borders will get new assault rifles, sniper rifles and light machine guns as the defence ministry on Tuesday approved a major proposal worth ~15,935 crore to buy military hardware.

At the meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) — the ministry’s apex body on procurement — the proposal to purchase 7.40 lakh assault rifles, 5,719 sniper rifles and light machine guns got the clearance.

The approval for the guns—to be procured under ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ category comes, ironically, amid increasing hostilities by Pakistan along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir as well as China’s aggressive posturing in several sectors along the nearly 4,000km-long Sino-india border.

The DAC meeting was chaired by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. A release from the government said that the DAC accorded approval for procurement of 7.4 lakh assault rifles for the three services at an estimated cost of ~12,280 crore.

The rifles will be produced in in India under by both state-run Ordnance Factory Board and

private sector. In a statement, the ministry said “essential quantity” of light machine guns (LMGS) will be through the “fast track” route at an estimated cost of ~1,819 crore, primarily to meet the operational requirement of the border troops.

“A concurrent proposal is being processed for the balance quantity to be procured under the ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ categorisation,” the ministry said.

Another proposal to enhance the anti-submarine warfare capabilities of Indian Navy got approval in the DAC. New Delhi will procure Advanced Torpedo Decoy Systems (ATDS) for the navy at a cost of ~ 850 crore.

The DAC also approved procurement of 5,719 sniper rifles for the Indian Army and Indian Air Force at an estimated cost of ~982 crore, the ministry said.