Govt approves purchase of Arjun tanks, arms worth Rs 13,700 cr

New Delhi, Feb 23 : The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved capital acquisition proposals of various weapons and equipment including 118 Arjun tanks on Tuesday.
“Three Acceptance of Necessities (AoNs) for an overall cost of Rs 13,700 crore were accorded,” the Ministry of Defence said.
All these Acceptance of Necessities are in the highest priority category of Defence Acquisition — Buy Indian-IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured).
“DAC has approved capital acquisition proposals of various weapons/platforms/ equipment/systems required by the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force,” the MoD said. The government cleared proposal of 118 Made-in-India Mark 1A Arjun tanks and 820 armoured vehicles.
All these acquisition proposals will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured. These will include inter-alia platforms and systems designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
To meet the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ goals of the government on time-bound defence procurement process and faster decision making and to systematically work towards reducing the time taken for capital acquisition, the DAC also approved that all capital acquisition contracts (delegated and non-delegated) other than design and development cases shall be concluded in two years.
The MoD, in consultation with the services and all stakeholders, will come up with a detailed plan of action for achieving the same.(IANS)