The defence ministry today approved military purchases worth over Rs 5,500 crore, including 12 high power radars for the Indian Air Force.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The DAC, defence ministry’s highest decision-making body on procurement, met here today and accorded approval for the procurement of equipment for the defence forces valued at over Rs 5,500 crore, the ministry said.
Pursuing the goal of indigenisation and self-reliance in the field of defence procurements, the DAC approved procurement of 12 High Power Radars for the Indian Air Force, it said.
Earlier in May, India has concluded price negotiations with Russia for a nearly Rs 40,000 crore deal to procure S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems for the Indian Air Force, officials said.
They said the two countries are now trying to find a way out to evade the provisions of a US law that seeks to punish countries and entities engaged in transactions with the defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.
“The negotiations for the missile deal have been concluded. The financial component has been finalised,” a top official involved in the negotiations for the deal with Russia told agency.
The official said both Russia and India are likely to announce the deal before an annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in October.
Two other officials said both sides are now looking at ways to insulate the deal from the sanctions announced by the US against Russia under its Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).The issue is understood to have figured during Modi’s informal talks with Putin in Sochi last week.
There has been mounting concerns in India over the US sanctions against Russian defence majors including Rosoboronexport as billions of dollars of military purchases may be impacted because of the punitive measure.
The US had announced sanctions against Russia under the stringent law for its alleged meddling in the American presidential election in 2016.
Prasanta Patnaik