Ministry of Defence orders 118 Arjun tanks for over Rs 7,000 crore

‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ boost, will benefit 200 Indian firms, create 8,000 jobs

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on Thursday that it has placed an order with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for 118 indigenous Arjun Mark 1A main battle tanks (MBTs) for the army. The Arjun Mark 1A has been developed by the Central Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) in Chennai — a Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory — and will be manufactured in the OFB’s Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF), Avadi.

“This production order to HVF, Avadi opens up a large avenue in defence manufacturing for over 200 Indian vendors including MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), with employment opportunities to around 8,000 people,” an MoD statement said. “The order, worth Rs 7,523 crore, will provide a further boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative in the defence sector and is a big step towards achieving ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said the MoD.

The army already operates 124 Arjun Mark 1 MBTs, which amounts to two tank regiments. It has stoutly resisted ordering more, arguing that the 62.5-tonne tank was too heavy to be transported over bridges and culverts near the border. Eventually, in a tank-versus-tank face-off in the Rajasthan desert in March 2010, one squadron (14 tanks) of Arjuns was pitted against an equal number of Russian T-90 tanks, which the army wants to buy more of. Top army generals who witnessed the trial admitted the Arjun performed superbly. Whether driving cross-country over rugged sand dunes or accurately hitting targets with its powerful main gun, the Arjun matched and outdid the T-90…Read More

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