With Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled to visit India from December 5, a high-level Defence Ministry meeting will be held on Tuesday to discuss the deal for manufacturing 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles for the Indian Army under the 'Make in India' initiative.
“A Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) meeting is scheduled to be held tomorrow to give its final approval to over Rs 5000 crore Kalashnikov deal which will be made in Amethi in joint venture,” defence sources said.
The AK-203, designed by Russia, will be produced in a new factory in Uttar Pradesh.
Both countries have agreed to the terms of the deal in terms of numbers, price, and manufacturing process. The deal entails the production of 6,014, 427 AK-203S for India's armed forces over a 10-year period.
The first 70,000 will include Russian-made components as technology transfers, and the army will receive these 32 months after the manufacturing process begins.