New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) India's defence ministry Saturday cleared a project worth Rs.32,000 crore for 12 mine sweeping vessels to be made in the country, along with some other projects including one for buying 38 basic trainer aircrafts.
In a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the government also cleared acquisition of 38 Pilatus basic trainer aircraft. However, the remaining requirement for the trainer aircrafts after this acquisition will be met by home made planes, sources said.
Sources from the defence ministry said the manufacture of the 12 MCMV (Mine Counter-Measures Vessel) will have Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) as the lead agency.
In November 2014, the ministry had scrapped the Rs.2,700 crore deal for acquiring two minesweeper vehicles from a South Korean firm after it was found that there were violations of tender conditions as agents were in the play.
"The whole process will be started from scratch. The vessels will be made on India," an official said.
He added that there could be foreign partners in the project.
The other major project cleared was for buying 38 Pilatus P-7 aircraft for training pilots.
India has already acquired 75 Pilatus aircraft against a projected requirement of 181 planes and 59 of these have been inducted.
Sources said the rest of the requirement will be met by HTT40 (Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40) aircraft manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
Officials added that number of planes can be increased to make the manufacturing viable.
"Adequate orders will be given to HAL to make this commercially viable project. The number of aircraft can be increased," an official said.
The council also cleared buying one Hercules C-130J aircraft to replace at the cost of Rs.533 crore to replace the one that crashed last year.
The council also discussed buying amphibious US-2i aircraft, but no decision was taken as the it was felt further discussions are needed on the issue.
No decision was taken on the bid by Airbus-TATA consortium to replace the ageing Avro transport aircraft fleet of the Indian Air Force.
Dolly Sohi Death: Stars are saddened by the demise of Dolly Sohi, the last rites of the actress will be held today.
Dolly Sohi Death: The morning of March 8 brought sad news for Dolly Sohi's fans. Dolly Sohi, who created the magic of acting on the small screen for 24 years, lost the battle with cancer and said
Nishad Singh, an engineer of Indian origin, pleaded guilty to fraud in a crypto exchange
Indian-origin engineer Nishad Singh, 27, has been found guilty of defrauding a crypto trading firm. Nishad Singh was posted as former Chief Engineer in FTX Trading Ltd. Nishad Singh is alleged to have
If Hindu society unites then they will not survive... BJP leader's threat on Shivamogga tension
Accusing "some Muslim goons" of communal tension in Karnataka's Shivamogga, senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa on Tuesday warned them not to underestimate Hindu society and that if the entire community
Oscar Award 2023 RRR : Natu-Natu won the award for Best Original Song, rocked the world
Naatu-Naatu Win Best Original Song Award 2023: SS Rajamouli's 'RRR' has once again created history worldwide. The song 'Natu-Natu' from 'RRR', which is continuing its success overseas, was nominated
IND vs AFG: Batsmen's hands are not working, and the ball is slipping from their hands, how will the match be? The Indian camp is in tension after seeing this thing in Mohali.
Ind vs AFG 1st T20I Mohali weather: The series of three T20 matches between the Indian team and Afghanistan is going to start today. This match between the two teams will be played in Mohali,
Brij Bhushan Singh: 25 people testified against Brij Bhushan Singh, with only photo as evidence, no video found
25 people have testified against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. These include the victim wrestler, international wrestler Bajrang Punia, two
More than 48 thousand cases increased for the fourth consecutive day, 31 thousand people were also cured, 3 thousand patients, missing in Bengaluru; 14.36 lakh cases so far in the country
The number of corona infections in the country crossed 1.4 million. On Sunday, more than 48 thousand cases increased for the fourth consecutive day. In the last 24 hours, 48 thousand 931 cases
Team India created history: India won by 119 runs in the third ODI, clean sweep the West Indies at their home for the first time in 39 years
Team India defeated West Indies by 119 runs in the third ODI to clean sweep the series 3-0. The Indian team has been playing the ODI series in West Indies for 39 years and for the first time, they
Milk Price Hike: Milk of Amul and Mother Dairy becomes expensive, new rates apply from tomorrow
The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation has increased the prices of Amul milk by Rs 2 per liter. Along with this, Mother Dairy has also increased the prices of milk. The new rates will be
Tendulkar congratulates New Zealand
Auckland, March 24 (IANS) Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar congratulated New Zealand for making it to the World Cup final after the Black Caps beat South Africa by four wickets (Duckworth/Lewis) in
