5th round of India-Russia Military Industrial Conference (IRMIC)

5th round of India-Russia Military Industrial Conference (IRMIC)

• Issues concerning the production localization of Ka-­226T light utility helicopters are in the process of being resolved, N.M. Srikanth, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indo­-Russian Helicopters Limited (IRHL) said
• The final deal for manufacturing the helicopters in India has been held up for a while
• At the ongoing Defexpo 2020, Russian Helicopters (RH) signed a road map with IRHL for localization of Ka­226T helicopter production in India.
• The IRHL is a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russian Helicopters (RH), which will assemble the Ka­-226T helicopters in India
• The localization plan would be spread over four phases. 
• The 5th round of India-Russia Military Industrial Conference (IRMIC) was conducted on 6th February 2020 on the sidelines of Defexpo-2020 at Lucknow.
• During the conference, a total of 14 MoUs were exchanged between the Russian OEMs and the Indian companies. The first ‘Request for Proposal’ for the manufacturing of parts in India under the provision of IGA was also handed over by the Indian Navy to the identified Indian industry. The sides acknowledged that this would pave way for more cases and contracts for joint manufacturing of spares parts, in the days ahead. 
• A large number of delegates from Indian and Russian defense sector companies participated in the conference and discussed the way forward to achieve the objectives of the Inter-Governmental Agreement under the Make in India initiative.

Source: The Hindu