Massive blow to Make In India: Army rejects home-grown Akash missile, wants Israeli missiles

New Delhi, Mar 30: In a massive setback to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make In India policy, the Indian Army has decided to reject induction of indegenously developed Akash missiles and opted for Israeli quick-reaction surface-to-air missiles.

As per an Economic Times report, Defence ministry sources said the Army has made it clear that it does not want any more Akash regiments after it gets the first two ordered earlier for Rs 14,180 crore, with six firing batteries and hundreds of missiles each.

This marks a major blow to the 'Make in India' policy, especially since the Navy is turning to France for similar requirements after dumping the home-grown surface-to-air missile system Akash for its warships due to "stabilisation problems", added the report.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday launched 'Make in India' conference in Sydney and asked Australian businesses to be the part of India's growth story.

India becomes the key focus of the world today and 'Make in India' is one of the key focuses of the government, Jaitley, who is in Sydney for two days, said.

The indigenous content in this state-of the art weapon system is 96 per cent. The token handing over ceremony was held at the Manekshaw Centre in Dehli. The Akash Weapon System will add teeth to Indian Army's Air Defence Corps.

The Army version of Akash has been developed by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), while the already-inducted Indian Air Force (IAF) version has been developed by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

The Indian Army had placed orders for two Akash regiments with BDL, estimated at around Rs 19,000 crore. The first regiment was likely to be deployed in Punjab.

OneIndia News