India to buy another 70000 US-made Sig Sauer assault rifles worth Rs 800 crore

The procurement, costing around Rs 800 crore, was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. This follows a previous agreement in 2019 for 72,400 Sig Sauer rifles worth Rs 694 crore, intended to replace the indigenous INSAS rifles.

Indian Army will be getting more American-made Sig Sauer assault rifles (7.62x51 mm calibre) after the defence ministry cleared the proposal to procure an additional 70,000 rifles at the cost of around Rs 800 crore. The procurement of state-of-the-art assault rifles is part of the modernisation drive in the Army's infantry wing and also to boost the firepower of the troops deployed along the borders. 

Last week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh-headed Defence Acquisition Council gave the nod to the proposal, sources in the defence establishment said. Prior to this, the government had inked an agreement to procure 72,400 Sig Sauer assault rifles in 2019 worth Rs 694 crore. These rifles will be replacing the indigenous (5.56 x 45 mm) INSAS rifles. 

The Sig Sauer rifles, which were bought in 2019, have been given to troops guarding India’s boundaries with Pakistan and China. The deal to procure a second batch of Sig Sauer rifles was initially approved by the ministry in 2020 but the deal could not go through. 

"The same deal has now been renewed," sources said. 

Longer range and better operational ease are the reasons for the repeat order. Besides, it is also meant for 'shoot to kill'. Currently, the Indian Armed Forces -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- need a total of 8.1 lakh combat rifles of which the Indian Army alone needs 7.6 lakh rifles. Out of the 72,400 SiG-716 rifles procured in 2019, the Indian Army received 66,400 rifles while the Air Force and Indian Navy received 4000 and 2,000 rifles respectively.