Finally, Army to get six heavy duty Apache attack helicopters

NEW DELHI: The Army will finally get its own heavy-duty attack helicopters after a bitter tussle with the IAF over the last several years. The defence ministry on Thursday cleared the acquisition of six Apache attack helicopters, armed with Hellfire and Stinger missiles, for the Army at a cost of Rs 4,168 crore.

The 1.3-million strong Army had earlier sought the government's approval for acquisition of 11 Apache helicopters from the US as "a follow-on contract" to the Rs 13,952 crore deal inked for 22 such choppers for the IAF in September 2015.

But after stiff opposition from the IAF, the Arun Jaitleyled defence acquisitions council (DAC) on Thursday cleared the Army's whittled down proposal for the six AH-64E Apache helicopters, which are manufactured by Boeing.

The DAC also approved the Rs 490 crore purchase of Zorya gas-turbine engine sets from Ukraine for two of the Grigorivich-class frigates being built in Russia. During the Modi-putin summit in Goa last year, India had agreed to purchase four 4,000-tonne Grigorivich-class guided-missile stealth frigates at cost of $4 billion from Russia.

While two of these frigates are lying half-constructed at the Russian Yantar Shipyard due to a cash-crunch and bilateral problems between Russia and Ukraine, the other two will be built in the Goa Shipyard in India. India will now acquire the Zorya gas-turbine engines from Ukraine and then ship them to Russia for the first two frigates.

The deal for the frigates is also linked to India's quest to lease a second nuclear-powered submarine (the first INS Chakra came in 2012) for around $1.5 billion from Russia.

As for the Apaches, the Army for long has been pushing for three squadrons of attack helicopters, among other choppers, for its three primary "strike" corps geared for rapid armoured thrusts into enemy territory.

The Army believes it should have "full command and control" over "tactical air assets" for rapid deployment along with its strike corps, while the IAF should concentrate on its "larger strategic role". As of now, IAF'S two existing but ageing squadrons of Russian-origin Mi-25/35 attack helicopters are supposed to play that role.

As per the earlier contract, the 22 Apaches will be delivered to IAF from July 2019 onwards, along with 812 AGM-114L-3 Hellfire Longbow missiles, 542 AGM-114R-3 Hellfire-ii missiles, 245 Stinger Block I-92H missiles and 12 AN/APG-78 fire-control radars. NEW DELHI: Even after putting in his papers from the post of Niti Aayog Vice Chairman, Arvind Panagariya is burning the midnight oil to prepare the final roadmap for the disinvestment of 20 more public sector enterprises.

According to highly placed sources, Panagariya is doing his bit to finalise the disinvestment plans for 20 PSUS from the final list of total 74 PSUS that were identified by the Niti Aayog for the closure/disinvestment of sick PSUS soon after he had taken the charge in January 2015.

Though Niti Aayog is ready with its disinvestment roadmap, according to sources, the final decision in this regard would be taken during the inter-ministerial group meeting which is scheduled for the next week. According to sources, in the upcoming list of 20 PSUS there are some ‘big ticket' public sector enterprises.

In the list of another lot of sick PSUS to be closed or disinvested include Hindustan Steelworks Construction Ltd, Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Airline Allied Services Ltd, Indian Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Air India Charters Ltd, etc.

“During the crucial meet, the IMG'S final approval would be sought to close all critically sick PSUS, while it would also be decided to either merge or disinvest the public enterprises having ‘revival potential',” the sources said, adding that it would be also decided to disinvest some of the “big ticket” PSUS belonging to the ministries of fertilizers, power, defence, petroleum, etc. After the IMG approval, the list would be sent to the Cabinet for its final approval.

The sources further said that the outgoing Niti Aayog vice chairman would complete the draft of the 15-year vision document for creation of massive coastal employment zones and establishment of world class universities prior to saying the final goodbye to the think tank.

For the Financial Year 2018, the government hopes to raise Rs 72,500 crore by divesting stakes in public sector firms.