Govt clears procurement of 111 utility helicopters for Navy at Rs 210 bn

In a major decision, the Defence Ministry on Saturday approved procurement of 111 utility helicopters for the Navy at a cost of over Rs 210 billion, officials said.

They said the ministry cleared procurement proposals worth nearly Rs 460 billion which included the acquisition of the helicopters.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the ministry's highest decision-making body on procurement.

"The DAC approved procurement of 111 utility helicopters for the Indian Navy at a cost of over Rs 210 billion," said a senior official.

The official said the DAC also granted approval to a few other procurement proposals amounting to approximately Rs 248.79 billion which included approval for acquisition of 150 indigenously designed and developed 155 mm advanced towed artillery gun systems for the Army at an approximate cost of Rs 33.64 billion.