Tender for Indian Army's 1.86 lakh bulletproof vests nixed over failed trials

NEW DELHI: The government has withdrawn a 2009 tender for procurement of over 1.86 lakh bulletproof jackets for the army after the items fielded by the vendors failed the trials, said Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

He said that the Defence Acquisition Council had accorded Acceptance of Necessity in October, 2009, for capital procurement of a total of 1,86,138 bulletproof jackets under the 11th army plan.

In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Parrikar said that the Request for Proposal was retracted on October 5 as the jackets fielded by the vendors failed in the trials.

The 1.86 lakh jackets were to be inducted by 2012 while another 1.67 bullet proof jackets were to be ordered in the second round.