Adani Defence delivers first batch of ‘Prahar’ light machine guns to army

Adani Defence and Aerospace on Saturday delivered the first batch of 2,000 Prahar Light Machine Guns (LMGs) to the Armed Forces. According to its CEO, Ashish Rajvanshi, this marks a milestone day in the history of the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The 7.62 mm-calibre weapon has been manufactured by Adani Defence and Aerospace at its Small Arms Complex located on the outskirts of Gwalior.

“We have been given seven years by the customer to deliver 41,000 LMGs, but at the speed and pace at which the team is working, we are going to deliver this in less than three years to the Indian Armed Forces,” Rajvanshi told IANS on the sidelines of the event.

“With the delivery of the first 2,000 LMGs, we are very confident that every month we will produce 1,000 LMGs, which is unprecedented,” he added.

The event was attended by A. Anbarasu, DG Acquisition, Ministry of Defence, along with other senior officials of the private firm. Anbarasu later flagged off a series of trucks carrying the first batch of LMGs meant for the Army.

“These have been highly instrumental because they tie back to the whole ‘Make in India’ strategy. It was important that we acquired at least the base technology from our partners,” Rajvanshi told reporters.

“It has taken us six years to reach this point. The journey started in 2020 with a vision and the dream of ‘Aatmanirbharta’. We were not sure where we were going to land. With the perseverance and hard work of the team, along with the support of policymakers over the last five years, we can proudly say that we have moved from being a component manufacturer to a full-gun OEM in these five years,” he noted.

Anbarasu said this demonstrates the ability to “race against time and deliver” when turning contracts into production.

–IANS