Defence Acquisition Council clears proposals worth Rs 76,390 crore

New Delhi, June 6, 2022

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, today accorded Acceptance of Necessirty (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals of the Armed Forces amounting to Rs 76,390 crore.

The acquisition, under the Buy India, Buy & Make (Indian) and Buy (Indian-IDDM) categories, is in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call for "Aatmanirbharta" (Self-Reliance), a press release from the Ministry of Defence said.

"This will provide substantial boost to the Indian Defence Industry and reduce foreign spending significantly," the release said.

For the Indian Army, the DAC accorded fresh AoNs for procurement of Rough Terrain Fork Lift Trucks (RTFLTs), Bridge Laying Tanks (BLTs), Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (Wh AFVs) with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) and Weapon Locating Radars (WLRs) through domestic sources with emphasis on indigenous design and development.

For the Indian Navy, the DAC accorded AoN for procurement of Next Generation Corvettes (NGC) at an estimated cost of approximately Rs 36,000 crore. These NGCs will be versatile platforms for variety of roles such as surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, Surface Action Group (SAG) operations, Search & Attack and Coastal Defence.

These NGCs would be constructed based on new in-house design of Indian Navy using latest technology of ship building and would contribute to further the Government’s initiative of SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region), the release said.

The DAC accorded AoNs for manufacture of Dornier Aircrafts and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by the public sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with focus on enhancing indigenisation, particularly in indigenising aero-engine material.

In pursuance of the Government’s vision for digital transformation in Defence, "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, the release added.

NNN