Russian AK-47/203 (Kalashnikov) rifles manufacturing factory to come up in UP's Amethi

New Delhi, Feb 14: The PM Narendra Modi led central government cleared 7.47 Lakh iconic Kalashnikov atomatic rifles to be built by Ordnance Factory Board and Russian Joint venture firm for the Indian Army. The plant for the same will be set up near Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

The joint venture is in response to Ministry of Defence (MoD)'s request for Information (RFI) for procurement of 650 000 assault rifles of 7.62×39 mm caliber under 'Make in India' program. The Russian share in the JV as per the provisions of the Indian law is going to be 49.5% with the OFB share being the majority 50.5% of the registered capital.

Russia has been pushing for signing this deal since last October when Indo-Russia summit had taken place in New Delhi. Followed by India-Russian intergovernmental commission meeting on military technical cooperation in December where it was decided that the Kalashnikovs will be made in India under Make in India initiative of the government. As had been reported earlier, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu co-chaired the meeting.

About Kalashnikov rifle:

A Kalashnikov rifle is any one of a series of automatic rifles based on the original design of Mikhail Kalashnikov. They are officially known in Russian as "Avtomat Kalashnikova" ("Kalashnikov's Automatic Gun"; Russian: Автома́т Кала́шникова), but are widely known as Kalashnikovs, AKs, or in Russian slang, as a "Kalash". They were originally manufactured in the Soviet Union, primarily by Kalashnikov Concern, formerly Izhmash, but these rifles and their variants are now manufactured in many other countries.