Indian Army’s Ambitious $8 billion Future Infantry Combat Vehicle Project To Be Finalised Post Lok Sabha Polls

The Future Infantry Combat Vehicle (FICV) project is expected to move forward after the new government is formed at the centre. The project costing $8 billion will be 40 per cent indigenous making it another win for the Make In India initiative of the NDA government.

The project will induct around 2,600 FICVs with a life span of 32 years and will be replacing the Army’s old Russian-origin BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles.

The project part of the modernisation drive of the Indian Armed Forces is expected to be completed by 2025, reports Financial Express.The project is expected to be a joint venture (JV) and Indian manufacturers like Titagarh Wagons, Reliance Defence and Engineering, Mahindra and Mahindra have sent their proposals to the Defence Ministry.

The department also received proposals from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) which include Russian companies under the umbrella of Rosoboronexport, US-based General Dynamic and German Rheinmetall.

The project was moved to the Make II category of the DPP-2016 last year to expedite its implementation but is now on hold as the service headquarters and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) failed to reach an understanding on the vehicle requirements.

The FICV project was earlier approved under the Strategic Partnership (SP) model under the ‘Make’ category of DPP-2008 before being moved to Make II of DPP-2016.

The DPP-16 clause states that in Make II category there is no funding required from the MoD, whereas in the ‘Make’ category, the ministry has to provide 90 per cent of funds up to the prototype stage.

 swarajyamag