Since the standoff against China that started in April 2020, the Indian armed forces have started to integrate cutting-edge systems to boost their capabilities. The Aatmanirbhar Bharat has similarly taken shape when it comes to defence.
The Indian armed forces and the government have been actively cutting down on foreign imported systems and have been replacing them with indigenous ones.
India chooses Indian carbines
With this, the Indian armed forces have dropped plans of importing 95,000 Caracal carbines. And have chosen to purchase 4.2 lakh Indian made guns which will be manufactured in India. The Caracal Carbines are made by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Initial estimates that the fund allocation for this project is going to be more than 5000 crores.
Since the production of these carbines will take time, a plan has been made which will allot the contract to two manufacturers, whether in the private or the public sector. This means that the L1 (or the firm with the best bids may get to make over 2 lakh carbines, but the firm that is L2 will get the remaining amount. This will ensure that the weapons are quickly delivered.
A decision of splitting the contract will be made if the contractors take more than 3 years. This is a decision, the armed forces are in favour of.
The indigenous manufacture of carbines has been discussed earlier. And there are several companies in both public and private sectors that have come up with their products.
Sources say “why to import something like a carbine that is not very high-tech. Why can’t it be made in India, even by collaborating with a foreign firm? Such a process has already been initiated with plans for the joint manufacture by India and Russia. Of the AK-203 (Kalashnikov) assault rifle in a VIP constituency in Uttar Pradesh. A similar project for the carbine is entirely possible. Thus, the defence ministry is expected to decide on this very shortly.”
