By Staff Correspondent
An Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) on “Mutual Cooperation in Joint Manufacturing of Spares, Components, Aggregates and other material related to Russian/Soviet Origin Arms and Defence Equipment” was signed during the 20th India-Russia Bilateral Summit held at Vladivostok in 2019.
The objective of the IGA is to enhance the “After Sales Support” and operational availability of Russian origin equipment currently in service in the Indian Armed Forces by organizing the production of spares and components in the territory of India by Indian Industry by way of creation of Joint Ventures/Partnership with Russian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) under the framework of the “Make in India” initiative.
Further, an Inter-Governmental Agreement was signed in 2018 between the Government of India and the Government of Russia to manufacture AK-203 rifles in India through a Joint Venture. Accordingly, M/s Indo Russian Rifles Pvt. Ltd. (IRRPL) was incorporated in 2019 with a shareholding of erstwhile Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) (50.5%) from the Indian side and Concern Kalashnikov (CK) (42%) &Rosoboron Export (ROE) (7.5%) from the Russian side.
Capital procurement of defence equipment is undertaken from various domestic and foreign vendors based on threat perception, operational challenges, and technological advancements to keep the Armed Forces in readiness.
During FY 2013-14 to 2020-21, 407 contracts have been signed, out of which 156 contracts have been signed with foreign vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment for Armed Forces. The delivery schedule of the equipment is specified in each contract.
This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Ajay Bhatt in a written reply to A Raja in Lok Sabha today.
