JOIN USThe defence acquisition council (DAC) on Wednesday approved projects worth Rs 4,444 crore but deferred decision on a Rs 12,000-crore programme under which an Indian company is to make 56 transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force to replace its ageing Avro fleet.
The proposals that received the DAC’s green signal include the Navy’s Rs 2,324 crore plan to procure four survey vessels with indigenous advanced light weight helicopters on board and upgrading the Rs 1,682-crore Samyukta e-warfare system for the Army.
Other two approvals were for an improvement in the P7 heavy drop platform landing system at a cost of Rs 402 crore and buying additional engines (Rs 36 crore) for coast guard patrol vessels.
But the DAC did not take a decision on the much-awaited Avro replacement programme as Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar sought “specialist input” to the contentious scheme before a decision is taken.
The proposal became controversial after previous defence minister A K Antony decided to exclude the public sector unit Hindustan Aeronautics Limited out of this programme apparently in a bid to create an alternate manufacturing facility in the private sector. As a result, a Tata-Airbus consortium is the only player in the fray creating a single vendor situation.