Military equipment worth Rs 1.93 lakh crore imported over last five years: Govt

The major defence equipment imported included helicopters, aircraft radars, rockets, guns, assault rifles, missiles, and ammunition, said Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State for Defence. The minister's data on military hardware procurement by the defence services covered the period from 2017-18 to 2021-22. 

Following the information provided by the government in Lok Sabha, India procured military hardware worth Rs 1.93 lakh crore in the last five years.   

The major defence equipment imported included helicopters, aircraft radars, rockets, guns, assault rifles, missiles, and ammunition, said Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State for Defence. The minister's data on military hardware procurement by the defence services covered the period from 2017-18 to 2021-22. 

The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2020), which focuses on 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliance India) and 'Make in India', introduced major policy initiatives aimed at increasing indigenous defence capability and reducing reliance on imports, said Bhatt.

In his response, Bhatt said, "DAP-2020 gives the highest priority to the Buy Indian (IDDM) category of acquisition, and 'Buy Global' is only permitted in exceptional situations with specific approval of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC)/the Defence Minister."

Additionally, Bhatt said, "Procurement from foreign countries was Rs 30,677.29 crore in 2017-18, rising to Rs 38,115.60 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 40,330.02 crore in 2019-20."

In 2020-21, the amount was Rs 43,916.37 crore and came down to Rs 40,839.53 crore in 2021-22. The total is Rs 1,93,878.81 crore.

"Over the last five fiscal years (2017-18 to 2021-2022) and the current fiscal year 2022-23 (up to December 2022), a total of 264 capital acquisition contracts for the procurement of defence equipment have been signed, with 88 contracts accounting for 36.26 per cent of total contract value signed with vendors from foreign countries such as the United States, Russia, France, Israel, Spain, and others," Bhatt said.

In response to another question, Bhatt said that the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is working on 55 'mission mode' projects totalling Rs 73,942.82 crore.

These include nuclear defence technologies, air-independent propulsion (AIP), combat suite, torpedo, fighter aircraft, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, gas turbine engines, assault rifles, warheads, light machine guns, rockets, advanced towed artillery gun system, infantry combat vehicle command, surface-to-air missile, anti-ship missile, anti-airfield weapon, and glide bomb, according to him.

Bhatt responded 'no' to another question about whether the government plans to make public the report of the One Member Judicial Committee (OMJC) formed to investigate the grievances of defence veterans regarding One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP).

"The government has not yet made a final decision on the recommendations of the One Member Judicial Committee," he concluded.

(With inputs from PTI)