Defence ministry gives nod to Rs 15,935 Cr plan to buy guns for military

New Delhi: The defence ministry, on Tuesday, cleared a proposal to buy 7.40 lakh assault rifles at a cost of Rs 12,280 crore for the three services, officials said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) presided over by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The defence ministry will also procure light machine guns worth Rs 1,819 crore, they said.

The government said, light machine guns will be acquired through a "Fast Track Procedure".

In other decisions, a proposal for purchase of 5,719 sniper rifles for the army at a cost of Rs 982 crore was also approved.

In a statement, the defence ministry said it was also processing a proposal to procure the "balance quantity" under the 'Buy and Make (Indian)' categorisation.

The Armed forces had flagged the need for new guns 11 years ago. In January, the DAC - the government's highest decision-making body on procurement - decided to acquire at least some of the weapons.