The defence ministry on Thursday sealed a contract to procure 118 main battle tanks Arjun for the Indian Army at a cost of Rs 7,523 crore, in a major move to boost its combat capabilities.
The latest consignment from China consisted of about 1,70,000 PPE kits, including donations for the use of healthcare professionals involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Sources said these PPE kits were sent to the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior, for quality testing.
The first batch of indigenously built T-90 Bhishma tanks was flagged off by Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju in Avadi near Chennai on Monday. \n\nThis group, consisting of ten T-90 tanks, was also inducted into the Indian Army.\n\nLieutenant General Dilip Bharadwaj, Defence Ministry Secretary S K Sinha, Heavy Vehicles Factory officials and important army officials took part in the rolling out ceremony of the T-90 tanks.
Of the total 124, CVRDE had already delivered 29 MBTs in two instalments till March this year. Rest of the Arjun tanks would be delivered by March 2010, Pillai said.
The first batch of India's indigenously built state-of-the-art T-90 main battle tanks, with features like protection from nuclear attack, were handed over to the army at a function in Avadi near Chennai on Monday. The batch of ten tanks, each costing around Rs 14-15 crore, rolled out of the Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi and were inducted into the army by Minister of state for Defence M M Pallam Raju.
The story of the T-90 has been coloured by deception and obfuscation from even before the tank was procured. Business Standard has pieced together, from internal documents and multiple interviews with MoD sources, an account of how the Indian Army has saddled itself with an underperforming, yet overpriced, version of the Russian T-90.
First batch of five indigenously built battle tanks rolls out of factory near Chennai
The army is looking forward to the total indigenisation of the tank, now being built with Russian collaboration.
However, a bright morning brought relief to the residents of the rain-drenched city, even as the weather office has forecast rains for November 21.
The ministry's year-end review is silent on the continued occupation by Chinese troops of territory that India has always claimed and patrolled.
The corridor is expected to attract around Rs 1,250 billion investment and create 4,00,000 jobs. It will start from Mysore, pass through Bengaluru in Karnataka, to connect with Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchy in Tamil Nadu.
Their success or failure will eventually hinge on how much equipment the services procure, and whether the finance ministry supplements the allocations in the Budget
The 606 positive cases includes 43 foreign nationals, the ministry said. On Tuesday, the number of cases was 519.
'The much-awaited decision could be a welcome change at a time when the Indian armed forces are crying for self-reliance and the defence industry is looking forward to more indigenisation,' notes Nitin A Gokhale.
For some inexplicable reason, the army prefers to use Russian armour; Arjun is deployed in only two of its 63 armoured regiments.
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