NEW DELHI—India’s Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared long-pending projects worth over $13.1 billion during an Oct. 25 meeting, including a proposal to buy 12 upgraded Dornier surveillance aircraft for the navy. As part of the new government’s insistence on home-grown products, the navy will buy the aircraft from state-run aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) at a cost of $310 million. Though no delivery schedule has been fixed, HAL hopes to deliver the aircraft from 2016 through 2019.
