Amid escalated tensions with Pakistan, following the Pulwama terror attack and the aerial strikes that followed, the defence ministry is reportedly considering a proposal to acquire 10 lakh multi-mode hand grenades for the Indian Army.
The acquisition will be under the 'Make in India' project in the military sector, ANI reported.
Government sources quoted by the news agency said that the acquisition, estimated to cost around Rs 500 crore, will be brought under consideration at a high-level meeting to be chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman this week.
The new hand grenades, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), will phase out the existing HE-36 grenades – that were manufactured by the Ordnance Factory Board.
This comes hot on the heels of two other major defence deals – that seek to arm the military forces with better, more potent assault rifles.
Recently, India signed a contract with a US firm for 72,400 SIG 716 assault rifles and 93,895 carbines at a cost of around Rs 3,547 crore, on a fast track procurement procedure.
The army had signed the contract with US-based Sig Sauer, to provide frontline soldiers deployed in operational areas with the advanced assault rifles.
Shortly after that, India had signed a deal with Russian arms firm Kalashnikov to manufacture 750,000 units of AK-203, the latest derivative of the AK-47 assault rifle.
The decision came after a string of complaints on INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) rifles were received from ground troops deployed in combat areas across the country.
(With inputs from ANI)
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