India to Procure 12 Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs; Defence Ministry Approves 9 Acquisition Proposals Worth Rs 45,000 Cr

The Ministry of Defence on Friday approved the proposal for the procurement of 12 Sukhoi Su-30 MKIs for the Indian Air Force which would be manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The project worth Rs 11,000 crore will include the aircraft and related ground systems.

According to Defence officials these Su-30 MKI would include more than 60 per cent indigenous content as per need and would be the most modern Sukhoi aircraft of the Indian Air Force.

The decision taken during the meeting of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved nine capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 45,000 crore on Friday.

For the nine capital acquisition proposals, the DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) and the AoN for acquiring 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft was also accorded.

These acquisitions are aimed at giving a boost to the achievement of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ as the they will be made from Indian vendors under Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured (IDMM)/ Buy (Indian) category.

The DAC also accorded the AoN for acquiring Light Armoured Multipurpose Vehicle (LAMV) and Integrated Surveillance and Targeting System (ISAT-S) to strengthen protection, attack capability, mobility and increased survival rate of Mechanised Forces.

Another AoN was cleared for acquiring High Mobility Vehicle (HMV) Gun Towing Vehicles for quick militarisation and deployment of Artillery Guns and Radars.

Next approved procurement was that of the Next Generation Survey Vessels for the Indian Navy, which will further deepen its capabilities to perform Hydrographic Operations.

Few proposals of Indian Air Force were also approved and accorded by the DAC. These include Avionic upgradation of Dornier Aircraft to improve the reliability and preciseness for operations. Then the acquisition of Dhruvastra Short Range Air-to-Surface Missile was also cleared by the DAC. These missiles are a potent Indigenous Precision Guided Weapon for the indigenously built ALH Mk-IV Helicopters.

It is time to upgrade the ambitions towards indigenisation, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. “Rather than a threshold of 50 per cent indigenous content for IDDM projects, we should aim for a minimum 60-65 per cent indigenous content.”

The Defence Minister also directed the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, Defence Secretary and DG (Acquisition) — in consultation with the Indian Industry — to work towards increasing the minimum indigenous content threshold.