Army to get jets, tanks from budget for domestic buys

NEW DELHI: The budget set aside for domestic defence procurement in 2021-22 will be used to buy a variety of military hardware, ranging from fighter jets to combat helicopters, and from tanks to missiles, officials familiar with the modernisation of the armed forces said.

India has set aside ₹70,221 crore — roughly 63% of the military’s capital budget — for locally produced weapons and systems to boost defence indigenisation.

The allocation for indigenous procurement, made for the second consecutive year, will power the purchase of Tejas LCA (light combat aircraft) MK-1A jets, light combat helicopters (LCHS), basic trainer aircraft, Arjun MK-1A tanks, Astra beyond-visual-range missiles, Pinaka rocket systems, and anti-tank missiles, said one of the officials cited above.

The budget will be used to make milestone payments for several domestic acquisitions through the year. Such payments refer to a certain percentage of the total deal amount that has to be paid at different stages of the execution of a contract, the official added on condition of anonymity. Last year, the ministry spent over ₹51,000 crore, or 58% of the capital budget, on domestic purchases.

The ₹48,000-crore contract for 83 LCA MK-1A jets, awarded to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) last month, is the biggest indigenous defence procurement deal so far.

The dedicated financial allocation for indigenous weapons and systems is a game-changer and will contribute in a big way to India becoming Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) in defence, said Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd), a former director general of military operations. “Our dependence on imported military hardware is a major weakness which is being corrected. Dedicated financial allocation will give a much-needed boost to the Make-in-india initiative as also help develop the domestic defence ecosystem. But the procedures and processes too should be addressed as they continue to be laborious,” he said.

The focus on buying indigenous military hardware comes in the backdrop of border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh where both sides are negotiating disengagement of troops at friction points on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Also, while the Indian and Pakistani militaries last week announced that they will observe a ceasefire along the Line of Control (LOC) in line with a 2003 agreement, a joint threat from the two nuclear-armed neighbours has been acknowledged as a reality by the country’s military leadership.