PTI, NEW DELHI: A 10-year-old plan to acquire 2,600 future infantry combat vehicles for the Indian Army at a cost of around Rs 60,000 crore is staring at an uncertain future as it is stuck due “divergent views” among the stakeholders on its implementation, official sources said.
They said another ambitious programme to indigenously manufacture a fleet of modern battle tanks, christened as future ready combat vehicle, is also not moving forward due to procedural delays.
The sources said a scheduled meeting among top brass of the defence ministry and the Army to discuss ways to take forward the future infantry combat vehicles (FICV) project last month was postponed due to certain differences over the programme.
The FICV was first envisaged in October 2009 and the initial process was started months later. However, the process of selection of private companies, which could indigenously manufacture the combat vehicles, was withdrawn in 2012 and a fresh start was made in 2014.
Infantry combat vehicles are used to carry infantry into battle field and are usually equipped with anti-tank missiles and heavy guns. The Army wants the FICVs to replace its Russian-origin BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles.
“The original plan is to induct the FICVs by 2025. The way things are moving, it is unlikely that we will be able to induct them before 2050,” said a military official involved in the project.
The project is witnessing inordinate delays when China and Pakistan are fast enhancing their military prowess along the borders with India.
Military sources said while China has enhanced strength of armoured resources by seven to eight times in the Tibet Autonomous Region bordering India in the last couple of years, Pakistan was bolstering its forces by quick modernisation of its tank fleet.
