On June 6, the Indian Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for acquisition proposals worth ₹76,390 crore (US$9.8 billion) . All the projects fall under the Buy (Indian), Buy & Make (Indian) and Buy (Indian-IDDM) categories of the Defense Procurement 2020 procedure and are expected to greatly help the Indian defense industry.
For the Indian Navy, the DAC granted AoN for the procurement of Next Generation Corvettes (NGCs) at an estimated cost of ₹36,000 crore. These NGCs will be versatile platforms for multiple roles such as surveillance missions, escort operations, surface action group (SAG) operations, anti-submarine warfare and coastal defense. The NGC would be designed by the Naval Design Branch of the Navy. A 2016 RfI announced the Navy’s intention to procure seven of these 120m-long missile corvettes. The amount currently being pursued remains uncertain.
For the Indian Army, new AoNs for the procurement of Rough Terrain Forklifts, Bridge Laying Tanks (BLTs), Wheeled Armored Fighting Vehicles (WhAFVs) with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) and Radars weapons locator (WLR) have been granted. The BLT-Arjun, developed by DRDO and based on the Arjun tank, should meet the requirements of the BLT. The ATGM-equipped WhAFV is expected to be the Tata wheeled armored amphibious platform (WhAP), a variant of which entered service in April. It is planned to use the Nag ATGM. Nag was launched from the BMP-II based NAMIC platform during testing. However, this version of NAMICA has not yet entered service. A dozen Swathi WLRs, a lightweight version of which was developed by DRDO, are to be acquired for use in mountainous terrain. The Swathi radar is already in service with India and Armenia.
The DAC has also granted AoNs for the manufacture of Do-228 aircraft and Su-30 MKI engines by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). HAL will focus on improving indigenization, especially in engine materials. A Digital Coast Guard project which aims to establish a pan-India secure network for digitizing various surface and air operations, logistics, finance and other processes of the Indian Coast Guard has also been approved. These projects are part of a number of measures taken in recent years to modernize the armed forces and reduce defense imports.
