New Delhi: The Maharashtra Police placed an order last week for 15 US-made Barrett Multi-role Adaptive Design (MRAD) sniper rifles and related accessories worth around Rs 5 crore for its elite commando unit, Force One.
The order comes despite a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recommendation that the procurement policy of state police forces should be in line with that of the central armed forces and focus on the promotion of the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The Maharashtra Police order, which includes approximately 30,000 rounds of ammunition and related accessories, was placed with Hughes Precision Manufacturing Pvt Ltd, the Indian partner of US firm Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc.
The rifles are being imported in parts by the Indian company and then assembled and packed here, which, it claims, is meeting with the ‘Make in India’ requirement.
Interestingly, friendly competitions are held within various units of armed forces to see how quickly one soldier can assemble a rifle blindfolded.
Maharashtra’s Force One, set up to deal with the terrorism-related crisis in the aftermath of the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, is only the third such force in the country to equip its troops with the highly sophisticated sniper rifle.
The National Security Guards (NSG) and the Indian Army are the only other two forces.
According to the Maharashtra Police order reviewed by ThePrint, each rifle will cost around Rs 14.75 lakh, including an 11 percent customs duty and 18 percent Goods and Services Tax. The package with the rifle includes accessories such as lens scopes, a bipod, a monopod, two magazines and a soft carry case.
The order was placed last week based on quotations from Hughes Precision Manufacturing.
MRAD is the more advanced version of the sniper rifles made by Barrett, which has several high-profile clients such as the US Marine Corps, Special Forces, Israeli National Counter-Terrorism Unit YAMAM, as well as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Barrett’s MRAD sniper rifle series has been rated highly by all forces for its easy and quick modifications, allowing forces to change caliber in a matter of minutes without the need for an expert.
Incidentally, the Force One, which was using the formidable Barrett 50 Cal, had lost out to the NSG, which was using an India-made rifle, in the police commando sniper competition earlier this year.
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‘Make in India’
The Maharashtra Police order came weeks after the MHA reiterated a recommendation from last year’s DGs/IGs conference that state police force procurement policies should follow those of the central armed forces and should focus on the promotion of the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
The DGs/IGs conference is an annual gathering of the chiefs and senior officers of the several state police forces, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Central Police Organisations (CPOs). The conference, organised by the Intelligence Bureau, is important as critical security and policymaking matters are discussed among top security establishment officers.
“The procurement of arms by the state police may be adopted on the lines of the armed forces focused on promoting ‘Make in India’,” said the recommendation from the conference.
The MHA’s latest recommendations reiterated two earlier recommendations, emphasising the promotion of ‘Make in India’ in procurement by state police forces.
The MHA said in a letter to police chiefs and home secretaries of states and Union Territories in April this year that it was working to modernise its police force through the Assistance to States & UTs for Modernization of Police (ASUMP) scheme.
“It is further intimated that this Ministry…conveyed the High-Powered Committee’s decision to scrupulously comply with the Public Procurement (Purchase of Make in India) Order issued by the Central Government, as modified from time to time,” it said.
It added that since the armed forces were already focused on promoting ‘Make in India’, states and UTs should also adopt the same process of procurement of arms in line with the recommendations of the DGsP/IGsP conference.
Hughes Precision Manufacturing manager Avinash Rahi, who oversees marketing and business development, told ThePrint the import duty has been added to the components because they would be assembled and packaged for use at the firm’s manufacturing plant in Goa.
“An entire 30,000 ammunition as part of the deal would be manufactured at our manufacturing plant in Goa, and by the following year, a majority of these accessories and firearms would be manufactured in India under the Make in India initiative,” Rahil told ThePrint.
“We have had a collaboration with Barrett for a couple of years, and all the equipment is imported from the United States, followed by their assembling and packaging before delivering to the buyers in the Indian forces. Everything is prepared for the final product as per the Make in India initiative,” he added.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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