Govt grants permission to defence forces to buy emergency weapons through Make in India route

Government has granted permission to defence forces to buy emergency weapons through Make in India route. 

The approval was given at a meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday. 

These emergency powers give the defence forces the freedom to acquire any new or in-service equipment on a fast-track basis as per requirement.

The equipment in these deals will be delivered within a time frame of 3 months to one year. 

Notably, with these powers, the armed forces have to spend funds on deals from their own budget and don't necessarily have to take the Defence Ministry's approval for the same.

The Defence forces have benefitted from these powers as the IAF and the Army received 'Heron' unmanned aerial vehicles which proved very useful for surveillance in Ladakh as well as in the Northeast.

Other acquisitions include missiles which can hit ground targets like bunkers from a long distance. The armed forces are set to buy a long list of equipment under this deal including both, ingenious and foreign manufactured products.