The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh, granted acceptance of necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 76,390 crore in the 'Buy (Indian),' 'Buy & Make (Indian),' and 'Buy (Indian-IDDM)' categories, giving a significant push to the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' campaign.
For the Indian Army, they include the procurement of rough terrain forklift trucks, bridge laying tanks, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles with anti-tank guided missiles, and weapon finding radars from domestic suppliers, with a focus on indigenous design and development.
"For the Indian Navy, the DAC accorded AoN for procurement of next-generation corvettes (NGCs) at an estimated cost of approx ₹36,000 crores. These NGCs will be versatile platforms for a variety of roles viz. surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, surface action group (SAG) operations, search and attack and coastal defence," a defence ministry statement added.
It went on to say that these NGCs will be built based on a novel in-house design by the Indian Navy, employing cutting-edge shipbuilding technology, and would contribute to the government's SAGAR initiative (Security and growth for all in the region).
The DAC also granted AoNs to the Navratna CPSE M/s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the manufacture of Dornier aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines, with an emphasis on increasing indigenization, particularly in the area of aero-engine material.
The statement said, "In pursuance of the Government's vision for digital transformation in Defence, the 'Digital Coast Guard' project under 'Buy (Indian) Category has been approved by the DAC. Under this project, a pan India secure network for digitising of various surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and HR processes in Coast Guard will be established."
