News Analysis India

Tag: Defence Ministry

  • Indian Air Force Set To Procure 97 Tejas MK-1A Jets, Defence Ministry Issues Tender To HAL |

    New Delhi: The Indian Defence Ministry has issued a tender to the state-run aerospace major, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), for the procurement of 97 light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1A) Tejas for the Indian Air Force (IAF), officials announced on Friday. The procurement of these fighter jets is expected to cost around Rs 67,000 crore. The Tejas aircraft is a potent platform for air combat and offensive air support missions. Its secondary roles include reconnaissance and anti-ship operations.

    In November, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had cleared the project to acquire 97 more Tejas jets for the IAF. This move is seen as a significant boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative in the defence sector. In addition to this, the DAC also approved a proposal of the IAF to upgrade its Su-30 fighter fleet. 

    The last order for LCA Mark1A was for 83 aircraft and the first plane is poised to be delivered in a few weeks from now. LCA Mark 1A is the advanced version of Tejas aircraft.

    The programme will help the IAF to replace its fleet of MiG-21s, MiG-23s and MiG-27s which have been either phased out or are set to be phased out in near future, government officials told ANI.

    The indigenous fighter aircraft programme, fully backed by Defence Ministry and Air Headquarters is set to be a big boost for promoting indigenisation as well as give major business to the small and medium enterprises engaged in defence business across the country, they said.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pushing for the revival of the HAL which has bagged orders for building all types of indigenous fighter aircraft, helicopters along with the engines for them under his government.

    The Prime Minister also undertook a sortie in the trainer variant of the indigenous fighter which was first ever sortie by the Prime Minister of India in any combat aircraft.

    The plan to acquire 97 more LCA Mark 1A fighter jets was also announced first by the Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on foreign soil in Spain when he told ANI about the mega plans to boost the indigenous fighter aircraft orders.

  • sainik schools: Kerala Minister writes to Rajnath Singh on politicisation of Sainik schools

    Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty has written to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh expressing concern about the alleged politicisation of Sainik Schools. According to a statement issued by Sivankutty’s office on Friday, the minister in his letter has said that handing over running Sainik Schools to organisations with political affiliations will erode the independence and openness of the institutions.

    “Sainik Schools are important institutions for future defence personnel and therefore, should not be dragged into politics at any level. “For this reason, I request you to maintain the reputation of these establishments to guarantee national security and ensure fairness in education,” the minister has said in his letter to Singh.

    Recently, an online media platform — ‘The Reporters’ Collective’ — had reported that the government handed over 62 per cent of the new Sainik Schools to people associated with Sangh Parivar, politicians from the BJP and its allies. Citing the report, the CPI(M)’s national leadership had alleged that a significant number of private institutions which have entered into an agreement with the Sainik School Society to run new Sainik Schools have RSS-BJP links.

    The Left party had also condemned the government for facilitating the participation of private players to run Sainik Schools and said the move reinforces “communalisation of education” and can also impact the “high secular standards” of military establishment.

    The report was rejected by the Defence Ministry which had asserted that a rigorous selection process was followed to finalise institutions to run the new Sainik Schools. “The political or ideological affiliation or otherwise of the applicant institution does not influence the selection process,” it had said. “Attempts to politicise or distort the objectives and implementation of the scheme by casting aspersions on it are unwarranted and misleading,” the ministry had added.

  • SC says Centre can’t issue communication on payment of OROP arrears in installments

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said the Ministry of Defence cannot take the law into its own hands by issuing communication on payment of One Rank-One Pension (OROP) arrears in four installments.

    A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala asked the ministry to immediately withdraw its January 20 communication, which said OROP arrears will be paid in four installments.

    Attorney General R Venkataramani said the Centre has paid one installment of OROP arrears to ex-servicemen but needs some more time for further payments.

    “First withdraw (your) January 20 notification on payment of OROP arrears, then we will consider your application for time,” the bench told Venkataramani.

    The bench said the defence ministry’s January 20 communication was completely contrary to its verdict and it cannot unilaterally say it will pay OROP arrears in four installments.

    It asked the attorney general to prepare a note giving details of the quantum of payment to be paid, the modalities to be adopted and what’s the priority segment for the payment of arrears.

    “We want that there has to be some kind of categorisation and older people should be paid the arrears first. Over four lakh pensioners have died since the litigation started,” the bench said.

    The top court is hearing an application filed by the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), through advocate Balaji Srinivasan, in which they have sought setting aside of the defence ministry’s January 20 communication.

    On February 27, the top court pulled up the defence ministry over the delay in payment of OROP arrears to eligible pensioners of the armed forces and sought an explanation from the secretary concerned for issuing the communication extending the timeline for payments fixed by the court.

    On January 9, the top court granted time till March 15 to the Centre for payment of total arrears of OROP. But on January 20, the ministry issued a communication that the arrears shall be paid in four yearly installments.

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said the Ministry of Defence cannot take the law into its own hands by issuing communication on payment of One Rank-One Pension (OROP) arrears in four installments.

    A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala asked the ministry to immediately withdraw its January 20 communication, which said OROP arrears will be paid in four installments.

    Attorney General R Venkataramani said the Centre has paid one installment of OROP arrears to ex-servicemen but needs some more time for further payments.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “First withdraw (your) January 20 notification on payment of OROP arrears, then we will consider your application for time,” the bench told Venkataramani.

    The bench said the defence ministry’s January 20 communication was completely contrary to its verdict and it cannot unilaterally say it will pay OROP arrears in four installments.

    It asked the attorney general to prepare a note giving details of the quantum of payment to be paid, the modalities to be adopted and what’s the priority segment for the payment of arrears.

    “We want that there has to be some kind of categorisation and older people should be paid the arrears first. Over four lakh pensioners have died since the litigation started,” the bench said.

    The top court is hearing an application filed by the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), through advocate Balaji Srinivasan, in which they have sought setting aside of the defence ministry’s January 20 communication.

    On February 27, the top court pulled up the defence ministry over the delay in payment of OROP arrears to eligible pensioners of the armed forces and sought an explanation from the secretary concerned for issuing the communication extending the timeline for payments fixed by the court.

    On January 9, the top court granted time till March 15 to the Centre for payment of total arrears of OROP. But on January 20, the ministry issued a communication that the arrears shall be paid in four yearly installments.

  • Defence ministry inks Rs 6,800-cr contract with HAL to procure 70 basic trainer aircraft

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Tuesday sealed a deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to procure 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft at a cost of over Rs 6,800 crore for the Indian Air Force.

    The ministry also finalised a contract with Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) for the acquisition of three cadet training ships worth over Rs 3,100 crore.

    Both the procurement proposals were cleared by the prime minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on March 1.

    “The ministry of defence on March 7 signed contracts with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) for procurement of 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft and three cadet training ships respectively in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,” the ministry said.

    While the HAL will provide 70 HTT-40 aircraft over a period of six years, the delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from 2026.

    Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, along with other senior civil and military officials of the ministry, and representatives of the HAL and L&T were present at the contract signing ceremony.

    The HTT-40 is a turbo prop aircraft possessing good low speed handling qualities and provides better training effectiveness, according to the ministry.

    The HTT-40 contains approximately 56 per cent indigenous content which will progressively increase to over 60 per cent through indigenisation of major components and subsystems, officials said.

    “The aircraft will meet the shortage of basic trainer aircraft of Indian Air Force for training of newly-inducted pilots. The procurement will include associated equipment and training aids including simulators,” the ministry said in a statement.

    “Being an indigenous solution, the aircraft is configurable for upgrades to incorporate the futuristic requirements of the Indian Armed Forces. The aircraft will be supplied over a period of six years,” it said.

    It said the HAL would engage the domestic private industry, including MSMEs, in its supply chain. “The procurement has the potential to provide direct and indirect employment to thousands of people spread over more than 100 MSMEs,” the ministry said.

    On the cadet training ships, the ministry said they will cater to the training of officer cadets, including women, at sea after their basic training to meet the future requirements of the Indian Navy. “The ships would also provide training to cadets from friendly countries with the aim to strengthen diplomatic relations,” it said.

    “The ships can also be deployed for evacuation of people from distress areas, Search and Rescue and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. The delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from 2026,” the ministry said.

    The ships will be indigenously designed, developed and constructed at L&T shipyard in Kattupalli, Chennai. “The project will generate employment of 22.5 lakh man-days over a period of four-and-half years. This will encourage active participation of Indian shipbuilding and associated industries, including MSMEs,” the ministry said.

    NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Tuesday sealed a deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to procure 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft at a cost of over Rs 6,800 crore for the Indian Air Force.

    The ministry also finalised a contract with Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) for the acquisition of three cadet training ships worth over Rs 3,100 crore.

    Both the procurement proposals were cleared by the prime minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on March 1.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “The ministry of defence on March 7 signed contracts with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) for procurement of 70 HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft and three cadet training ships respectively in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,” the ministry said.

    While the HAL will provide 70 HTT-40 aircraft over a period of six years, the delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from 2026.

    Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, along with other senior civil and military officials of the ministry, and representatives of the HAL and L&T were present at the contract signing ceremony.

    The HTT-40 is a turbo prop aircraft possessing good low speed handling qualities and provides better training effectiveness, according to the ministry.

    The HTT-40 contains approximately 56 per cent indigenous content which will progressively increase to over 60 per cent through indigenisation of major components and subsystems, officials said.

    “The aircraft will meet the shortage of basic trainer aircraft of Indian Air Force for training of newly-inducted pilots. The procurement will include associated equipment and training aids including simulators,” the ministry said in a statement.

    “Being an indigenous solution, the aircraft is configurable for upgrades to incorporate the futuristic requirements of the Indian Armed Forces. The aircraft will be supplied over a period of six years,” it said.

    It said the HAL would engage the domestic private industry, including MSMEs, in its supply chain. “The procurement has the potential to provide direct and indirect employment to thousands of people spread over more than 100 MSMEs,” the ministry said.

    On the cadet training ships, the ministry said they will cater to the training of officer cadets, including women, at sea after their basic training to meet the future requirements of the Indian Navy. “The ships would also provide training to cadets from friendly countries with the aim to strengthen diplomatic relations,” it said.

    “The ships can also be deployed for evacuation of people from distress areas, Search and Rescue and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. The delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from 2026,” the ministry said.

    The ships will be indigenously designed, developed and constructed at L&T shipyard in Kattupalli, Chennai. “The project will generate employment of 22.5 lakh man-days over a period of four-and-half years. This will encourage active participation of Indian shipbuilding and associated industries, including MSMEs,” the ministry said.

  • India imported defence equipment of Rs 1.93 lakh crore in five years

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: India continues to import a major share of the arms and equipment from other countries and these amounts to a total of more than Rs 1.93 lakh crore, the Defence Ministry said on Friday.

    As per the Ministry of Defence (MoD) during the last five financial years (2017-18 to 2021-2022) and current financial year 2022-23 (upto December, 2022), a total of 264 capital acquisition contracts have been signed for procurement of defence equipment. “Out of the 264 contracts, 88 contracts accounting for 36.26% of total contract value have been signed with vendors from foreign countries such as USA, Russia, France, Israel, Spain etc,” said MoS Defence Ajay Bhatt.

    The major Defence equipment imported includes Helicopters, Aircraft Radars, Rockets, Guns, Assault Rifles, Missiles and Ammunitions.

    Meanwhile, Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2020) with a focus on “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Make in India” introduced major policy initiatives for boosting indigenous defence capability and reduction of reliance on imports.

    As per the DAP-2020, “The highest preference to Buy Indian (IDDM) category of acquisition and Buy Global is only permitted in exceptional situations with specific approval of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) / Defence Minister.

    In addition, the government is taking initiatives to promote the indigenous production of defence equipment. On the one side, it is assisting the indigenous industry with funds under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) and is also pushing the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with Mission Mode (MM) projects.

    Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Parliament that a total of 54 industries have been supported under the TDF scheme so far. A total No. of 04 technologies has been successfully developed under TDF Scheme. Further, “A total of 340 applications as Expression of Interest (EoI) have been received under TDF Scheme & 372 applications as Expression of Interest (EOI) have been received for Dare to Dream under TDF Scheme so far.”

    The Government has worked out the Mission Mode (MM) projects of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Ajay Bhatt said, “As of date DRDO is working on 55 MM Projects for a total sanctioned cost of Rs. 73942.82 Crore”. The projects are in the area of Decoys, Nuclear Defence Technologies, Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), Propulsion Systems, Torpedo, Fighter Aircraft, Cruise Missile, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, AEW&C Aircraft Systems, Gas Turbine Engine, and Warhead among many others.

    Details of capital expenditure incurred on foreign procurement for Defence Equipment by the Defence Services for the last five years are as under: –

    Financial Year   Foreign Procurement (Rs. in crore)

        2017-18                    30,677.29

        2018-19                    38,115.60

        2019-20                    40,330.02

        2020-21                    43,916.37

        2021-22                    40,839.53

    TOTAL                         193,878.81

    NEW DELHI: India continues to import a major share of the arms and equipment from other countries and these amounts to a total of more than Rs 1.93 lakh crore, the Defence Ministry said on Friday.

    As per the Ministry of Defence (MoD) during the last five financial years (2017-18 to 2021-2022) and current financial year 2022-23 (upto December, 2022), a total of 264 capital acquisition contracts have been signed for procurement of defence equipment. “Out of the 264 contracts, 88 contracts accounting for 36.26% of total contract value have been signed with vendors from foreign countries such as USA, Russia, France, Israel, Spain etc,” said MoS Defence Ajay Bhatt.

    The major Defence equipment imported includes Helicopters, Aircraft Radars, Rockets, Guns, Assault Rifles, Missiles and Ammunitions.

    Meanwhile, Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2020) with a focus on “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Make in India” introduced major policy initiatives for boosting indigenous defence capability and reduction of reliance on imports.

    As per the DAP-2020, “The highest preference to Buy Indian (IDDM) category of acquisition and Buy Global is only permitted in exceptional situations with specific approval of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) / Defence Minister.

    In addition, the government is taking initiatives to promote the indigenous production of defence equipment. On the one side, it is assisting the indigenous industry with funds under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) and is also pushing the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with Mission Mode (MM) projects.

    Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Parliament that a total of 54 industries have been supported under the TDF scheme so far. A total No. of 04 technologies has been successfully developed under TDF Scheme. Further, “A total of 340 applications as Expression of Interest (EoI) have been received under TDF Scheme & 372 applications as Expression of Interest (EOI) have been received for Dare to Dream under TDF Scheme so far.”

    The Government has worked out the Mission Mode (MM) projects of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Ajay Bhatt said, “As of date DRDO is working on 55 MM Projects for a total sanctioned cost of Rs. 73942.82 Crore”. The projects are in the area of Decoys, Nuclear Defence Technologies, Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), Propulsion Systems, Torpedo, Fighter Aircraft, Cruise Missile, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, AEW&C Aircraft Systems, Gas Turbine Engine, and Warhead among many others.

    Details of capital expenditure incurred on foreign procurement for Defence Equipment by the Defence Services for the last five years are as under: –

    Financial Year   Foreign Procurement (Rs. in crore)

        2017-18                    30,677.29

        2018-19                    38,115.60

        2019-20                    40,330.02

        2020-21                    43,916.37

        2021-22                    40,839.53

    TOTAL                         193,878.81

  • Army inks pacts with 11 banks to provide banking facilities to Agniveers

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has said it has signed agreements with 11 banks to provide banking facilities to Agniveers after their enrolment, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

    In June, the government announced the ‘Agnipath’ scheme for the three services to recruit youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years and 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.

    For 2022, the upper age limit has been extended to 23 years. The three services are currently undertaking the recruitment process under the new scheme. The first batch of Agniveers will be joining Army training Centres by January next year.

    “The Indian Army has signed historic MoU with 11 Banks viz State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC First Bank and Bandhan Bank for providing banking facilities to Agniveers on enrollment,” the defence ministry said.

    The Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed on Friday.

    “The features and benefits offered under Agniveer salary package are similar to the defence salary package,” it said in a statement.

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Army has said it has signed agreements with 11 banks to provide banking facilities to Agniveers after their enrolment, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

    In June, the government announced the ‘Agnipath’ scheme for the three services to recruit youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years and 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.

    For 2022, the upper age limit has been extended to 23 years. The three services are currently undertaking the recruitment process under the new scheme. The first batch of Agniveers will be joining Army training Centres by January next year.

    “The Indian Army has signed historic MoU with 11 Banks viz State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC First Bank and Bandhan Bank for providing banking facilities to Agniveers on enrollment,” the defence ministry said.

    The Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed on Friday.

    “The features and benefits offered under Agniveer salary package are similar to the defence salary package,” it said in a statement.

  • Private sector banks to provide financial services in overseas procurement by Defence Ministry

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Thursday allowed three private sector banks to provide financial services to it for overseas procurement of military hardware.

    The banks are HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

    Till now, only authorised public sector banks were utilised to provide services like issuance of letter of credit and direct bank transfers to the ministry for overseas procurement.

    In line with further opening of allocation of government business to private sector banks by the department of financial services, the ministry has assigned three private sector banks to provide the LoC and direct bank transfer business for overseas procurement, an official release said.

    “The selected banks may be allocated with LC business of Rs 2,000 crore, each on the capital and revenue side, for a period of one year on concurrent basis (Rs 666 crore for each bank under both capital as well as Revenue),” the ministry said.

    “The performance of these banks will be monitored regularly so as to take necessary further action as required,” it said.

  • There will be no rollback of Agnipath military recruitment scheme: Lt Gen Anil Puri

    By Online Desk

    NEW DELHI: Amid protests and agitations against the newly-launched Agnipath recruitment scheme for the military, Lt Gen Anil Puri, Additional Secretary, Dept of Military Affairs, on June 19 clarified the scheme will be implemented and there is no question of a rollback. He also clarified that all recruitment will be through the Agnipath scheme only.

    Lt Gen Puri was addressing a joint military briefing on the Agnipath recruitment scheme with Air Marshal SK Jha, Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, and LG C Bansi Ponnappa.

    He also stated that the Agniveers would get the same allowance in areas like Siachen and other areas which are applicable to the regular soldiers serving at present. “No discrimination against them in service conditions,” he added.

    “Coming to the rollback of the scheme. Why should it be rolled back? It is the only progressive step to making the country young. Why is it being made young? We are tinkering with Desh ki Raksha (national security). There is no space. I will give you an example. Do you know how many casualties are reported just for health purposes from high-altitude areas? Do read about it, then you would come to know why being (sic) young is important,” the officer said.

    Calling this reform ‘long-pending’, Lt Gen Puri said, “We want a mix of josh and hosh and that is why we wanted to reduce the age profile. The average age is 32 years at present and we want to reduce it as per the recommendations of the Kargil review committee and Arun Singh committee report,” Lt Gen Puri said.

    Referring to the provisions of reservations in different ministries, Lt Gen Puri said that announcements were pre-planned and not in reaction to the arson and agitation which took place after the Agnipath scheme announcement. He also clarified that all recruitment will be through the Agnipath scheme only.

    He said around 17,600 people from the three services are taking premature retirement from the three services every year. “No one ever tried to ask them what they will do after retirement,” he stated. 

    On the protests and acts of violence happening across the country, Lt General Puri said, “Indian Army’s foundation is discipline. No space for arson, vandalism. Every individual will have to take a pledge that they were not part of protests or vandalism”. He said that the individual against whom an FIR is lodged would not be allowed to join the forces. All candidates will have to give a written pledge that they did not indulge in any arson/violence, he added.

    Implementation plans announced

    “Registration process for the first batch of Agniveers will start from June 24 and from July 24, phase 1 online examination process will begin”, said Air Marshal Jha. He informed that the first batch would be enrolled by December and training would commence by December 30.

    Talking about the recruitment process in Indian Navy, Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said the first batch of naval Agniveers will start reaching the training establishment INS Chilka in Odisha from November 21. He also made clear that both males and females will be recruited through the Agnipath scheme.

    “The Indian Navy has 30 women officers at present sailing on different Indian Navy ships. We have decided that under the Agnipath scheme, we will recruit women also. They will be deployed on warships,” the Navy official added.

    “By December, we will get the first batch of 25,000 Agniveers and the second batch would be inducted around February 2023 making it 40,000,” said Lt Gen Bansi Ponappa.

    Lt Gen Puri that the Centre will start with the recruitment of 46,000 Army aspirants to ‘analyse’ the scheme. “In next 4 to 5 years, our intake (of soldiers) will be 50,000-60,000 and will increase to 90,000 to 1 lakh subsequently. We’ve started small at 46,000 to analyse the scheme… and to build up infra capacity,” he said.

    “Our intake of ‘Agniveers’ will go up to 1.25 lakhs in near future and will not remain at 46,000 which is the present figure”, the officer added.

    READ HERE | Agnipath: All you need to know about Army recruitment scheme that has India on the boil

    (With inputs from PTI and ANI)

  • Defence Ministry inks contract worth Rs 2,971 crore with BDL to procure Astra missiles

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The defence ministry sealed a contract worth Rs 2,971 crore with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) on Tuesday to procure several batches of the Astra MK-I beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missiles and associated equipment.

    The missiles are being procured for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy, the ministry said.

    The Astra MK-I BVR AAM has been indigenously designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) based on the requirements issued by the IAF.

    The air-to-air missile with BVR capability provides large stand-off ranges to the IAF’s fighter jets.

    The Astra MK-I missile and all associated systems for its launch, ground handling and testing have been developed by the DRDO in coordination with the IAF.

    “In a major boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, the Ministry of Defence on May 31 signed a contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for the supply of Astra MK-I BVR air-to-air missile (AAM) and associated equipment for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 2,971 crore under Buy (Indian-IDDM) category,” the ministry said in a statement.

    It said the missile, for which successful trials have already been undertaken by the IAF, is fully integrated on the Su 30 MK-I fighter aircraft and will be integrated with other fighter jets in a phased manner, including the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas).

    It said the navy will integrate the missile on the MiG 29K fighter aircraft.

    “The transfer of technology from the DRDO to the BDL for production of Astra MK-I missile and all associated systems has been completed and production at BDL is in progress,” the ministry said.

    “This project will act as a catalyst for the development of infrastructure and testing facilities at BDL. It will also create opportunities for several MSMEs in aerospace technology for a period of at least 25 years,” it added.

  • Defence Ministry intervenes to sort out veteran’s pension delay

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: A large number of the retired Indian Army Soldiers did not get their pensions for the month of April with the problem attributed to the delay in submission of Life Certificate.  

    On Wednesday an assurance was given by the Ministry of Defence to credit the due pensions into their accounts to affected 58,275 pensioners by Wednesday.

    The Ministry of Defence in its statement on Wednesday said, “The pension for the month of April 2022 has now been processed and pension is due to be credited by end-of-day on May 04, 2022. All such pensioners are being informed about pending annual identification through SMS and email.”

    All pensioners must complete annual identification in order to continue receipt of monthly pension, which is usually done in the month of November 2021 by all banks acting as Pension Disbursing Agencies. Due to the COVID situation, Government had extended the window for annual identification due on November 30, 2021 upto March 31, 2022, MoD added.

    “The banks (the previous Pension Disbursing Agency) could not confirm identification for 58,275 pensioners and neither was their identification received directly on SPARSH by the time of monthly closing. Hence, these pensioners were not paid their April pension by April 30, 2022,” MoD said.

    A one-time special waiver has been accorded to these 58,275 pensioners to get their identification done by May 25, 2022.

    However, the soldiers TNIE spoke to denied any intimation from the authorities to resubmit the Life Certificate.

    “The Life Certificate was submitted on time in November. Had they asked us, we would have submitted it again,” told a Lieutenant General but did not wish to be named.

    There had been issues since two or three months but it has got highlighted as the numbers of soldiers deprived of their pension is quite large this time, he added.

    “Indian Army’s pensioners are spread across the country and mostly into the rural areas. Among them a large number are widows who can hardly operate smart phones or computers thus it needs special attention for them to use the online system,” said another senior officer.

    The online system was adopted to save Rs 260 crores which was given to the banks as service charges, but there were bank managers and also some veterans serving as advisors to the banks at various senior levels to resolve issues, added the second officer.

    There are around 3.3 million total pensioners out of which over five lakh were getting their pensions disbursed through System for Pension Administration (Raksha) (SPARSH) as an initiative of the Ministry of Defence envisaged providing a comprehensive solution to the administration of pension to the defence pensioners.

    The problem was faced by those veterans who retired post January 2016 and had moved to a new system. A total of 4.47 lakh had migrated from legacy system to SPARSH (post 01.01.2016 retirees) upto March 31, 2022. During the processing of pension for the month of April 2022, as per MoD, annual identification of around 3.3 lakh pensioners was not updated.

    A list was shared with all Pension Disbursing Banks to share updated identification data, if any, and as a result identification status of more than 2.65 lakh pensioners was updated on SPARSH by April 25, 2022 leading to successful processing of pension for all these pensioners, the MoD clarified.

    The MoD, including the Defence Accounts Department, is undergoing a major transformation with an aim to bring transparency and efficiency in various processes and procedures. With the broader agenda of digitisation and modernisation of legacy systems, the MoD said.