AK rifles to be made in Amethi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 14

A version of the famous AK series of Russian-origin rifles will now be made at Korwa in Amethi—Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s constituency.

The production at the facility will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 28. Before that, India and Russia will ink a joint venture (JV) between the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and the Russian Kalashnikov Concern.

The OFB plant at Korwa was planned in 2007 at an investment of Rs 408.01 crore by October 2010. A total of 7 lakh AK-203 rifles will be made at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore. The AK-203 is an upgraded version of the AK-100 series. It has several polymer parts that make it lighter.

The joint venture is in response to the Ministry of Defence (MoD)’s request for information (RFI) for procurement of rifles of 7.62×39 mm calibre under “Make in India” programme. The Russian share in the JV, as per the provisions of the Indian law, is going to be 49.5 per cent with the OFB share being the majority 50.5 per cent of the registered capital.

In a clear blowback of the Rafale controversy, the government, had last year, told the Russians that its proposed joint venture with the Adani Group would not be accepted and the tie-up had to be with the OFB.

This is the second time in past one year the India has ignored threat of US sanctions. Last October, it went ahead with the deal to procure the S-400 “Triumf” air-defence missile system from Russia.

India has a strategic partnership with the US, but has made it clear to Washington that India-Russia military relations stand separate from the India-US ties and that these are not inter-connected.

The US, in June, passed the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) that requires imposing curbs on nations that have “significant” defence relations with Russia.