Govt nod for Rs 5,000 cr AK 203 rifles deal ahead of Putin visit

New Delhi: India and Russia are finalising the details of a slew of agreements in defence, space technology, trade and energy that will be signed when Russian Vladmir Putin arrives in New Delhi for the RussiaIndia annual summit on December 6. Delhi. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Modi cleared the deal on Wednesday, days after the Rs 5,000 crore deal to manufacture over 5,00,000 AK 203 Kalashnikov rifles by an Indo-Russian joint venture at a manufacturing facility in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh was given a go-ahead by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the sources said.

“In an endeavour to provide a big boost to selfreliance in defence manufacturing in India, the government has approved the plan for the production of over 500,000 AK-203 assault rifles at Korwa in Amethi,” said a source.

Both Russia and India had given in-principle approval for the deal during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Moscow last year. The joint venture is also expected to explore the possibility of exporting the AK 203 Kalashnikov rifles.

The 7.62 X 39mm caliber AK-203 rifles will replace the INSAS rifles.

AK-203 assault rifles, with an effective range of 300 meters, are lightweight, robust and easy to use and they are expected to enhance the combat potential of the troops. The project will be implemented by a special purpose joint venture called Indo-Russian Rifles Private Ltd. It has been created with erstwhile OFB of India and Russia’s Rosoboronexport and Kalashnikov. -(PTI)