Agra: Boosting the ‘ Make in India’ initiative, Rifle Factory Ishapore has indigenously developed the country’s lightest revolver , 'Nidar' which weighs a mere 250 gm, half the weight of an earlier model ‘ Nirbheek ’, which was exclusively designed for women. According to officials, the idea behind creating Nidar was to arm office-going professional men and women , so that they can defend themselves on city streets.The premier Indian small arms manufacturer will launch the revolver on February 2. Any citizen with a valid arms licence can buy the .22 calibre revolver, which is priced at less than one-third of the .32 calibre Nirbheek, which costs around Rs 1.22 lakh.“The .22 calibre Nidar is the lightest revolver ever made in India, with the cheapest price tag of Rs 35,000. It is capable of firing eight rounds loaded in a revolving chamber, compared to Nirbheek, which has a six-round capacity,” said PK Aggarwal, officer-in-charge of Rifle Factory Ishapore. “Unlike the expensive titanium alloy used in Nirbheek, for Nidar we developed a totally new alloy of aluminium which is called ‘DTD5124’. It is very light and has supreme metal strength,” he added.The weapon, said the factory’s public relations officer SS Naskar, can be carried in a small purse, handbag or even trouser and jacket pockets. “Initially we wanted Nidar to be exclusively dedicated for women, but due to strenuous resistance from arms dealers against the ‘women’s firearm’ tag which went with Nirbheek, we had to design the weapon for both men and women. Arms dealers claimed there were less takers for revolvers with a ‘women’s firearm’ tag,” he said. The revolver, said its makers, can fire with accuracy up to seven metres and has a barrel length of 40.3mm.When TOI asked local office-going women for their opinion on the new lightweight revolver, they expressed interest and excitement. “I will definitely buy one, as I often face miscreants chasing my car. However, I will need training to fire the weapon,” said Deeksha Singh, who works with a finance company at Sanjay Place.“The price of the revolver is just a fraction of any other and it is easy to carry in a purse, according to the manufacturers. I will place an order for it soon,” said Ayesha Sana, whose father owns a double-barrelled shotgun.