Indian Army to get new assault rifles and hi-tech carbines worth Rs 3,547 crore : Nirmala Sitharaman

Indian Army to get new assault rifles and hi-tech carbines worth Rs 3,547 crore : Nirmala Sitharaman

The government on Tuesday gave its nod for the procurement of assault rifles  and  carbines worth Rs 3,547 crore to meet the immediate requirement of troops deployed on the borders on a “fast track basis”, the defence ministry said.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, cleared the procurement of 72,000 assault rifles and 93,895 carbines.

The procurement is expected to address the shortage of small arms for the armed forces.

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Sources said that tenders will soon be floated to set the ball rolling for the procurement process. The procurement could also be done at the government to government (G to G) level.

To encourage participation of private sector in defence design and production and to give a boost to ‘Make in India’ programme, the DAC introduced significant changes in the ‘Make II’ category of the Defence Procurement Procedure, a defence ministry statement said.

The DAC also simplified the procedure to make it industry friendly, with minimal government control.

The revised procedure will now allow the defence ministry to accept suo motu proposals from the industry and also allow start-ups to develop equipment for the Indian Armed Forces.