New Delhi, Aug 25: The Defence Acquisition Council on Saturday approved procurement of arms worth nearly Rs 46,000 crores, said the statement issued by the Ministry of Defence. The deals which received the green nod include the purchase of 24 Multi Role Helicopters (MRH) from the United States of America.

The government-to-government deal to procure MRH from the US will be finalised during the '2+2 summit' between New Delhi and Washington, to be held on September 6. The deal is estimated to cost $1.8 billion.

The 24 MRH are part of the 111 Utility Helicopters which will be procured from the Navy. Out of the total amount, over Rs 21,000 crores has been assigned for the purchase of the choppers.

"This is the first project under the MoD’s prestigious Strategic Partnership (SP) Model that aims at providing significant fillip to the Government’s ‘Make in India’ programme," said the statement issued by the Defence Ministry.

Apart from the Utility Helicopters, the DAC also approved the procurement of 150 indigenously developed Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS). The latter is expected to cost Rs 3,364.78 crore.

The ATAGS have been designed by the Defence and Development Research Organisation (DRDO). The manufacturing will be assigned to ordnance agencies which will be chosen by the DRDO.

The Acquisition Council also gave clearance to procure 14 Vertically Launched Short Range Missile Systems for the Navy. 10 among the missile systems would be indigenously developed, whereas, four would be procured from foreign manufacturers under the Make in India programme.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 25, 2018 06:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).