Govt nod to procure light choppers from HAL, to be manufactured in Tumkur

The government on Tuesday approved capital acquisition proposals for the armed forces worth Rs 7,985 crore, including procurement of 12 Light Utility Helicopters (LUHs), which the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited would manufacture in its plant at Tumkur in Karnataka.

The proposals cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) included one for the Lynx U2 Fire Control System from the Bharat Electronics Limited based in Bengaluru to enhance detection, tracking and engagement capabilities of the warships of the Indian Navy.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting of the DAC, which also cleared “Acceptance of Necessity” for mid-life up-gradation by the HAL of the Dornier aircraft used by the Indian Navy for coastal surveillance.

“All of these proposals (100%) are under ‘Make-in-India’ programme, with focus on design, development and manufacturing in India,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The DAC also decided to drop the government’s earlier plan to procure 13 MK45 naval guns from the BAE Systems, Inc of the United States. “As a further impetus to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, a global procurement case of Naval guns has been foreclosed with these guns’ quantity added to the upgraded Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) being manufactured by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL),” the Ministry of Defence stated.

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