In a significant decision, the Ministry of Defence under Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cleared the proposal to procure 10 lakh grenades for Indian army under government's flagship Make in India scheme

New Delhi: In a significant decision, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has cleared the proposal to procure 10 lakh hand grenades for the Indian Army under its Make in India program. A high-level meeting chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cleared the proposal on Wednesday afternoon.

The Rs 500 crore proposal comes shortly after the Defence Ministry cleared the acquisition of assault rifles and signed a joint venture with Russia to manufacture AK-203 rifles for the infantry units of the Indian Army. The newly manufactured hand grenades will replace the existing HE-36 grenades that have been manufactured by the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).

The latest addition to personal weapons of the Indian Army, these grenades have been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The grenades form a crucial weapon of the Army soldiers at the time of war as they can inflict heavy casualties to enemies by destroying enemy positions and bunkers.

Recently, the government also signed a contract worth Rs 700 crore for procurement of 70,000 Sig Sauer assault rifles with a US manufacturer. A JV has also been formed with Russia to manufacture AK-203 assault rifles. Modernisation of the armed forces is an ongoing process and assumes importance on the backdrop of the recent tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the February 14 Pulwama attack.

40 CRPF personnel were killed when a suicide bomber belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-backed terror group targeted a 78-vehicle convoy in Pulwama along Jammu-Srinagar highway. This was followed by an attack on JeM camps in Balakot, Pakistan by fighter jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF).