In a fresh bid to break the Bofors jinx, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has cleared a proposal to acquire 814 artillery guns for Rs 15,750 crore while deferring decision on joint bid by Tata Sons and Airbus to replace IAF's Avro transport fleet and also procurement of 106 Swiss Pilatus basic trainer aircraft.

In a fresh bid to break the Bofors jinx, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has cleared a proposal to acquire 814 artillery guns for Rs 15,750 crore while deferring decision on joint bid by Tata Sons and Airbus to replace IAF's Avro transport fleet and also procurement of 106 Swiss Pilatus basic trainer aircraft.

This was the first time that Parrikar was chairing a meeting of the defence acquisitions council (DAC) since taking over the office from Arun Jaitley. The army has not bought a single artillery gun since the Bofors scandal exploded in the late 1980s. Procurement stalled in the aftermath of the Bofors scandal and a series of decisions by previous governments, including blacklisting of foreign gun manufacturers for alleged wrongdoings.

Sources said at least six tenders have been issued so far but were cancelled due to a number of reasons including blacklisting and single vendor scenario.

The artillery guns would be procured as per the "Buy and Make" procedure introduced last year under which 100 such guns would be bought off the shelf while 714 would be made in India.

The plans to acquire such guns were first mooted under Army's Field Artillery Rationalisation Plan (FARP) formulated in 1999.

Defence Ministry sources said the DAC has cleared the long pending proposal to acquire 814 mounted guns of 155mm/52 calibre. Sources said a fresh Request for Proposal (RFP) would be issued for the procurement which will be open to public as well as private companies.

The Indian private companies that are likely to make a bid for this project include L&T, TATA and Bharat ForgeBSE -1.02 %.

"The Indian company, when selected, will be the lead partner now. They can either show their ability to make the product completely here or tie-up with a foreign firm and build the guns here," a source said.

Talking about the multi-crore joint bid by Tata Sons and European firm Airbus to manufacture 56 transport aircraft to replace the Avro fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF), sources said the DAC has sought additional information.

A similar decision was also taken on the proposal to acquire an additional 106 Swiss Pilatus basic trainer aircraft for the IAF at an estimated cost of about Rs 8,200 crore.

The DAC also approved the revised payment schedule of Rs 7,160 crore for the IAF's Integrated Air Command and Control System which aims to integrate all ground and air censors.

India, already the world's largest arms importer, is in the midst of a $100 billion defence upgrade. In October, the new government approved long-delayed projects worth $13 billion to modernise hardware and boost the domestic defence industry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is accelerating the modernisation plan in an attempt to catch up with neighbour China's rising military air, sea and land power. India's poorly equipped soldiers often scuffle with western neighbour Pakistan and brush up against Chinese forces patrolling a disputed Himalayan border.

Some of the mounted guns will be imported, but most will be made in India in a collaborative effort between foreign companies and domestic manufacturers.

Agencies