India approves capital acquisition of military hardware worth Rs 70,584 crore

India on Thursday approved the capital acquisition of indigenously-developed military hardware worth Rs 70,584 crore as part of a mega procurement plan that is expected to significantly boost domestic defence manufacturing. The approval to the procurement proposals was accorded by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, officials said.

The go-ahead to the fresh procurement proposals came amid the nearly three-year-long standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh with China.

"The DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition amounting to Rs 70,584 crore and all the procurement will be made under the Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) category," a statement released by the defence ministry said.


Out of the total proposals, Indian Navy proposals constitute more than Rs 56,000 crore, which largely includes indigenous BrahMos missiles, Shakti Electronic Warfare systems and Utility Helicopters-Maritime.

"While this additional procurement of BrahMos missile system will enhance the maritime strike capabilities & Anti-Surface Warfare Operation, the addition of Utility Helicopters will multiply the operational readiness of the Indian Navy in the domain of Search & Rescue operations, Casualty Evacuation, Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR. Similarly, Shakti EW systems will equip and modernise the frontline Naval ships to counter any Naval Operations by the adversaries," the statement further said.

The DAC also approved Indian Air Force’s proposal for long range stand-off weapon, which will be indigenously designed, developed and integrated on SU-30 MKI aircraft.

For the Indian Army, the apex procurement body approved procurement of 155mm/52 caliber advanced towed artillery gun system along with high mobility vehicles and gun towing vehicles.

"It also accorded AoN for procurement of advance light helicopters MK-III from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the Indian Coast Guard. The helicopter will be able to carry a suite of surveillance sensors which will enhance the surveillance capabilities. It will also give full night capability and Instrument Flight Rules capability for operations of the Indian Coast Guard," the statement added.

With this, the total approval granted for capital acquisition in the financial year 2022-23 stands at Rs 2.71 crore, of which 98.9 per cent will be sourced from Indian industries, the officials said.

"Such quantum of indigenous procurement will not only galvanize the Indian industries towards achieving the goal of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) but also reduce India's dependency on foreign vendors to a large extent," Singh's office tweeted.

(With inputs from PTI)