The first Boeing Poseidon P8i surveillance aircraft had been inducted into the Indian Navy in 2013.
The Indian Army will be replacing its vintage anti-aircraft guns, decided the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) - headed by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar -- that met late this evening. The committee has cleared purchase of defence equipment worth Rs 30,000 crore, sources said.
The new guns will have to be bought from Indian companies. But no Indian firm has yet demonstrated the capacity to manufacture these weapons. The army is likely to get 428 guns and it is likely to cost the exchequer Rs 16,900 crore.
Currently, the Indian army uses L-70 and Zu- 23 mm guns of 1950s vintage, acquired from Swedish manufacturer Bofors and from the erstwhile Soviet Union's Podolsky Electromechanical Plant.
In 2013, then UPA Government had issued global tenders for anti-aircraft guns and invited Israeli, British, French, Russian and Polish firms to compete. None, however, responded as they did not find the proposal lucrative enough and the tender was later cancelled.
The Narendra Modi government hopes that Indian companies that have entered the sphere of defence equipment manufacturing - including Larsen & Toubro, public sector units Bharat Electronics and Bharat Forge, Tata's and Punj Lyod - will tie up foreign manufacturers, who are now allowed to acquire 49% stake, and acquire the technology.
Besides, the DAC has allowed the Indian Navy to buy four more P8i maritime surveillance aircraft from the US.
The Indian Navy has eight such long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft made by Boeing. The purchase of four more is likely to cost the exchequer Rs 4,380 crore.