Two decades after the Indian Army sought replacement of its outdated artillery guns, the land force has received just about 8 per cent of the howitzers that the Defence Ministry planned to purchase with no visible outcome on 77 per cent of the proposed acquisition till a year back, the Comptroller and Auditor General has found.
Out of the five projects to purchase various categories of howitzers, only two have been realised so far – delivery of K-9 Vajra and M-777 ultra lightweight howitzers – meeting just about 9 per cent of the planned acquisition. In the sixth project on the up-gunning of older generation 130 mm guns, the forces received only about 16 per cent of the guns that the army was to receive by March 2022.
The bulk (77 per cent) of the proposed howitzer acquisition comprising 155 mm/52 calibre towed and 155 mm/52 calibre mounted gun systems has not materialised though they were the first two artillery modernisation projects that received the Defence Minister’s approval in 2007 and 2009 respectively.
“Out of the six cases of acquisitions and upgradation of artillery guns, only three culminated into contracts, comprising merely 17 per cent of the total number of guns proposed to be acquired. The replacement of existing artillery guns has been progressing at a very slow pace for over two decades,” the CAG said in its report tabled in the Parliament earlier this week. As of March 2022, only 8 per cent of the guns had been delivered.
Acquisition of self-propelled (wheeled) guns was dropped from the modernisation plans without identifying a suitable substitute.
The 155 mm/52 calibre towed guns, which is to be the mainstay for the Regiment of Artillery in the future – has not been purchased even after a decade-long procedure to identify the vendor, conducting trials and fixing the price after protracted negotiations.
In December 2020, the Narendra Modi government imposed an embargo on their import on the ground of self-reliance. This was one of the 101 items which were brought under the embargo. Going by the original plan approved in 2002, the defence ministry was to directly buy just about 13 per cent of the towed guns while 38 per cent were to be made in India under technology transfer. The 155 mm towed guns were more than half of the total number of howitzers that the army planned to buy.
The army in December 2022 issued a fresh request for information to buy such guns from Indian vendors, once again starting the procurement process as per an acquisition plan drafted in 1999.
The procurement of the mounted gun systems, which was approved with a transfer of technology clause, did not progress beyond the first stage approval (acceptance of necessity) accorded in 2009. It didn’t even progress to the tendering stage (request for proposal) even after 12 years. Asked by the audit, the ministry remained silent on the procurement of such systems.
“The entire (artillery) acquisition process was mired in delays at various stages of procurement for almost all type of guns,” the CAG said in the report, noting that actions like up-gunning of older guns and buying Dhanush (using the Bofors technology) systems would only serve as “stopgap measures.”
