India to produce 7.47 lakh Kalashnikov assault rifles
NEW DELHI: The union government has cleared a proposal to produce at least 7.47 lakh Kalashnikov assault rifles by the Ordnance Factory Board and a Russian Joint venture firm for the Indian Army.
The plant for the same will be set up near Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, said reports.
News agency ANI confirmed that the Centre had on Wednesday evening cleared a proposal for the joint production of 7.47 lakh Kalashnikov series assault rifles by the Ordnance Factory Board and Russian Joint venture firm.
This comes days after the government signed a deal for procuring 72,400 assault rifles for the Indian Army’s infantry from the US-based M/s Sig Sauer.
An intergovernmental agreement for a joint venture between Russia’s Kalashnikov Concern and Ordnance Factory Board is expected to be inked later this week, said media reports quoting sources.
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 calibre under ‘Make in India’ program.
Media reports quoted sources as saying that as part of the deal around 50,000 assault rifles will be handed over to India once the joint venture is inked.
Russia has been pushing for signing this deal since last year in October when Indo-Russia summit had taken place in New Delhi.
KV Network
