Defence Ministry clears Rs 2.23 lakh-cr acquisitions

The defence ministry has cleared acquisition proposals worth ₹2.23 lakh crore for the armed forces, including 97 additional light combat aircraft and 156 light combat helicopters from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), and indigenous towed artillery gun systems.

A ₹65,000-crore plan to upgrade the mainstay Su 30MKI fighter jet fleet in service with the air force is also among the plans approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) led by minister Rajnath Singh, officials said.

These approvals will bring big business to the domestic defence industry in the coming years. "Out of the proposals amounting to ₹2.23 lakh crore, acquisition worth ₹2.20 lakh crore (98% of the total acceptance of necessity, or AoN, amount) will be sourced from domestic industries," one of the officials said.


The clearance for 97 more light combat aircraft MK1A comes as a major shot of confidence for the indigenous aircraft that was recently flown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

With this order, the Indian Air Force (IAF) will have a total of 220 fighter jets in service in coming years.

HAL is working on increasing its production capacity and hopes to ramp it up to 24 jets a year, officials said.

Besides, work is also progressing on an MK2 version that will be powered by a stronger jet engine to be produced in India in partnership with US firm GE under a technology sharing pact that was inked at the government-to-government level.

The DAC also cleared procurement of two types of anti-tank munitions that will be capable of neutralising tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and enemy personnel.

Looking to replace the Indian Field Gun (IFG), which has completed service life, the ministry gave a go ahead to procure new 155 mm towed gun system (TGS) from the Indian defence industry.

For the Navy, a go ahead has been given for procurement of medium range anti-ship missiles (MRAShM) that will be equipped on battleships. "The MRAShM is envisaged as a lightweight surface-to-surface missile, which will be a primary offensive weapon onboard Indian Naval Ships," one of the officials said.