India Allocates $9.8B for Corvettes, Su-30MKI Engines

The Indian Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by defense minister Rajnath Singh has approved proposals worth $9.8 billion (INR 76,390 crore) for the procurement of military equipment and platforms including eight next generation corvettes and engines to power Su-30 MKI fighters.

It also covers acquisition of wheeled armored fighting vehicles and bridge laying tanks for the Indian Army.

Singh said the DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for Capital Acquisition Proposals of the Armed Forces amounting to INR 76,390 crore under ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ and ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ categories."

The Indian Navy has been provided AoN for procurement of Next Generation Corvettes (NGC) at an estimated cost of approximately $4.6 billion (INR 36,000 crore). These next generation corvettes are part of the Indian Navy’s ongoing plan to have a 175-ship Navy. NGCs will be capable of performing a variety of roles such as surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, Surface Action Group (SAG) operations, Search & Attack and Coastal Defence.

The new corvettes will be constructed based on the new in-house design of the Indian Navy. The planned next generation corvettes will be the first time that the warships will be designed entirely by the Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design and executed by an Indian shipyard through a competitive bid. The new warships will eventually replace the Khukri and Kora class corvettes.

Indian Army has received the DAC nod for the procurement of Rough Terrain Fork Lift Trucks (RTFLTs), Bridge Laying Tanks (BLTs), Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (Wh AFVs) with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) and Weapon Locating Radars (WLRs) through domestic sources with emphasis on indigenous design and development.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will get Dornier aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

“In pursuance of the Government’s vision for digital transformation in Defence, ‘Digital Coast Guard’ project under ‘Buy (Indian)’ Category has been approved by the DAC. Under this project, a pan India secure network for digitising of various surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and HR processes in Coast Guard will be established,” the Indian defense ministry said.