Ahead of Putin's visit, Defence Ministry clears Rs 5,000 cr AK-203 assault rifle deal with Russia

New Delhi, Nov 24: With Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting India next month, the Ministry of Defence has finally given nod to over a Rs 5,000 crore deal with Russia to manufacture 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi.

 

 

The Defence Acquistion Council, which was held on Tuesday and headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, had cleared AK-203 assault rifles deal. According to the reports, the deal might be signed during Putin visit to India. This is a major boost to strengthen India-Russia bilateral relations.

 

 

The deal had been agreed upon between the two sides a few years ago and now the last major issue would be resolving the issues on the transfer of technology. Out of the 7.5 lakh rifles to be acquired by the Indian Army, the first 70,000 will include Russian made components as the transfer of technology happens slowly. These will be delivered to the Army 32 months after the production process begins.

 

Notably, the Defence Ministry has made statement proposals for Indian Air Force, however, was quiet on the rifles deal. It stated that the DAC chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for one capital acquisition proposal of IAF for its modernisation and operational needs, amounting to Rs 2,236 crore, for procurement of GSAT-7C satellite and ground hubs for real-time connectivity of software defined radios (SDRs).

 

 

It said, "the project envisages complete design, development and launching of satellite in India and will enhance the ability of our Armed Forces to communicate beyond Line of Sight (LoS) among one another in all circumstances in a secure mode.