India May Restart Vehicle Program

 

18.06.2014 Pacific Sentinel

NEW DELHI — India’s Defence Ministry is considering restarting a US $10 billion infantry vehicle replacement program in order to include more domestic defense companies as potential bidders.

The Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) program is likely to be among the first major decisions by the new government voted in last month, an MoD source said.

The Indian Army wants to produce 3,000 vehicles to replace upgraded Russian combat vehiclesat a cost of over $10 billion under the FICV program, first conceived in 2009.

Under the “Make India” arrangement, the government will finance up to 80 percent of the cost of the prototype, to be built by two short-listed development partners. After the prototype is put to trial and evaluated, one development partner is selected to produce the futuristic vehicles.

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