Army bought weapons worth Rs 7,300 cr from domestic firms to counter China

To counter the threat from China, the Indian Army ordered weapons worth Rs 7,300 crore from domestic manufacturers using emergency power, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Tuesday. It added that another Rs 7,000 crore worth of orders is in the final stages of procurement and is likely to be completed in the coming weeks.

"We have contracted 49 schemes worth Rs 7,600 crore and 34 more schemes worth Rs 7,000 crore are in final stages of procurement," an official was quoted in the report as saying.

The ordered equipment list includes drone and counter-drone systems, automatic spectrum monitoring systems, loiter munitions armaments, simulators, communication systems and vehicles.

Emergency powers were given to the Indian forces twice. Once, in the wake of the Galwan crisis in 2020. Second, in the aftermath of the Balakot air strikes.

However, the current emergency powers are reserved only for orders placed to Indian companies. Most orders placed and those in the final stages were bagged by the Indian private sector.

Last year, the Defence Acquisition Council gave powers to the forces to procure equipment worth Rs 300 crore under the emergency powers. Afterwards, sixty-six schemes were signed for the first three tranches of procurement. These were worth Rs 6,600 crore.

Now, another 34 schemes worth Rs 7,000 crore are in the final stages, and the trials and selection were done by "proactively engaging with the industry".