The DAC also approved that all capital acquisition contracts (delegated and non-delegated) other than D&D cases shall be concluded in two years. Army will now place indent with Heavy Vehicle Factory, Avadi for tanks

The Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday cleared procurement proposals worth ₹13,700 crore including 118 Arjun MK-1A tanks for around ₹8,400 crore. The improved tank was formally handed over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Army last week.

Separately, Bharat Forge announced that it has received a ₹117.95-crore order from the Defence Ministry under emergency procurement to supply its Kalyani M4 Kalyani M4 armoured vehicles to the Army.

“All these acquisition proposals will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured. These will include inter alia platforms and systems designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Ministry said. Three Acceptance of Necessities (AoNs) were accorded approval for proposals for the three Services.

Other proposals from the DRDO cleared by the DAC include Nag missile carrier NAMICA, Arudhra medium power radars, Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) 125mm practice ammunition.

With the AoN accorded for the tanks, the Army will now place the indent with the Heavy Vehicle Factory (HVF), Avadi, a defence official said. Within 30 months from the date of indent, the HVF will deliver five tanks called the “pre-production model”. The Army will put them through General Service Quality Requirement (GSQR) evaluation and accord the Bulk Production Clearance (BPC) if found satisfactory, the official said.

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 Ministry, in consultation with the Services and all stakeholders, will come up with a detailed plan of action for achieving it, the Ministry said.

Blast Protection Vehicles

The Kalyani M4 is a multi-role platform, designed for quick mobility in rough terrain and in areas affected by mine and Improved Explosive Devices (IED) threats. An official said the deal is for 27 vehicles.

“It offers best in-class levels of ballistic and blast protection — up to 50kg TNT side blast or IED, roadside bombs due to its innovative design, built on a flat-floor monocoque hull,” the company said. It successfully completed a series of extreme vehicle trials in some of the toughest environments in India, it said.

Bharat Forge and global aerospace and technology company Paramount Group have announced a cooperation agreement to jointly manufacture armoured vehicles in India.