India reserves major defence acquisitions for local industry

BEL Arudhra radar model. (Janes/Prathamesh Karle)

India's Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved in principle military acquisition proposals valued at about INR1.1 trillion (USD11.6 billion).

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on 7 September that approximately 98% of the planned acquisitions would be sourced from Indian industry, reinforcing New Delhi's drive to develop military capabilities through domestic suppliers.

The approvals, formally known as Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), represent the first stage of India's defence procurement process. They do not constitute contract awards, and the acquisitions could take several years to progress through tendering, evaluation, negotiation, and final approval.

For the Indian Army, the DAC approved chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance vehicles to detect, identify, monitor, and mark areas contaminated by CBRN agents.

It also approved high-mobility vehicles (HMVs) to improve operational capability, logistics support, and mobility in difficult terrain, as well as advanced light helicopters (ALHs) to support complex Indian Army and Indian Air Force missions across varied terrain and operational conditions.

The HMV clearance follows MoD contracts awarded to state-owned BEML for unspecified numbers of 6×6 vehicles in 2025 and 8×8 vehicles in 2024 for the Indian military.

The DAC also approved self-propelled mechanical minelayers (MMLs) for the army to enable rapid minelaying in difficult terrain, along with trawl tanks and the Sarvatra bridge system to provide composite crossings for army fighting formations during operations, the MoD said. Sarvatra is a truck-mounted mobile bridging system designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).