Modernisation of Army on course: Naravane

New Delhi, May 30

The modernisation of the Indian Army is well on course, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane has said, dismissing apprehensions that the need for devoting more resources to guard the Line of Actual Control in the face of the prolonged standoff with China in eastern Ladakh may starve the force of funds for buying new weapons and platforms.

Emphasising his point, Gen Naravane said, “Fiftynine contracts worth Rs 21,000 crore have been concluded since last fiscal, while a number of other capital acquisition proposals are in the pipeline.”

He said the modernisation drive in the Army has been going on without facing any difficulty and that required resources are being provided by the government. “The modernisation drive of the Indian Army is well on course. Recently, 15 contracts worth more than Rs 16,000 crore have been concluded under normal schemes of procurement and 44 contracts worth Rs 5,000 crore have been concluded in 2020-21 under emergency procurements,” Gen Naravane said.

“A number of capital acquisition proposals too are underway concurrently,” the Chief of Army Staff said. He was replying to a question on whether the much-needed modernisation of the Army has been impacted due to the need for allocation of greater resources to keep a large number of troops for guarding the LAC in eastern Ladakh and elsewhere in the wake of the standoff since last one year. — PTI