India to sign MoU with Russia to procure AK-203 assault rifles:

The Indian Army is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Russia for the procurement of over 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles. The rifles are to be manufactured locally by an India-Russia joint venture (JV). The MoU is expected to be signed in a month.

MoU provisions:

♦ As per the MoU, about 1 lakh rifles will come directly from Russia and the remaining will be manufactured by the JV in India.

♦ The rifles have been planned to be manufactured by the Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) at Korwa in Uttar Pradesh.

♦ The facility will be set up between the Ordnance Factories Board (OFB) from the Indian side, and Rosoboron Exports and Kalashnikov on the Russian side. 

♦ The OFB will own 50.5% equity and the Russian side will hold the remaining 49.5%. 

♦ The JV was formed after the Inter-governmental Agreement between India and Russia in February 2019. 

♦ The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has floated a Request For Proposal (RFP) to the JV for the supply of 6.71 lakh rifles.