The Defence Acquisition Council on Tuesday approved a proposal to purchase assault rifles, sniper rifles, carbines and light machine guns valued at approximately Rs 15,935 crore. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (pictured above) chaired the meeting.
The proposal includes purchase of 7.4 lakh assault rifles for the three services – the Army, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy – at an estimated cost of Rs 12,280 crore. The council also approved the procurement of 5,719 sniper rifles for the Army and the Air Force valued at Rs 982 crore.
The assault rifles will be “Made In India” under the categorisation of “Buy and Make [Indian]”, the government said in a press release. The sniper rifles will be bought under the “Buy Global” categorisation, while its ammunition will subsequently be manufactured in India.
The Defence Acquisition Council also approved the procurement of Advanced Torpedo Decoy Systems for the Indian Navy. The Mareech ATDS system has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the release said, adding that the systems will be procured by Bharat Electronics Limited in Bengaluru for an estimated cost of Rs 850 crore.
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