NEW DELHI – In a major decision, the Indian Defence Ministry has approvedone of the largest helicopter deal in the history of India.

Defence Ministry on Saturday approved procurement of 111 helicopters forthe Navy at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore, officials said. They said theministry cleared procurement proposals worth nearly Rs 46,000 crore whichincluded the acquisition of the helicopters, PTI has reported.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council(DAC), the ministry’s highest decision-making body on procurement.

“The DAC approved procurement of 111 utility helicopters for the IndianNavy at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crores,” said a senior official.

The official said the DAC also granted approval to a few other procurementproposals amounting to approximately Rs 24,879 crore which includedapproval for the acquisition of 150 indigenously designed and developed 155mm advanced towed artillery gun systems for the Army at an approximate costof Rs 3,364 crores.