The Indian Air Force has cancelled a tender to purchase 48 Mi-17 V5 helicopters as it seeks to develop its military production under Prime Minister Modi's "Made in India" program. This was reported by India Today, citing a high-ranking Indian official. At the same time, it is noted that this decision is not related to the war in Ukraine.
"The tender for 48 Mi-17V5 helicopters has been withdrawn due to the move towards strengthening the roots. Now the Indian Air Force will support a local program to build helicopters," the newspaper said.
Back in 2012, India agreed to purchase 80 russian helicopters: at that time, the Indian helicopter fleet was 70% obsolete. New Delhi later began talks with Moscow on purchasing an additional 48 Mi-17 V5s.
India is currently implementing a "Made in India" import substitution program proposed by Prime Minister Modi. It is designed to create conditions for the gradual replacement of foreign military equipment, especially the russian model, with Indian.
Mi-17s are manufactured at the Kazan Helicopter Plant, a subsidiary of the state-owned helicopter development and production company Helicopters of Russia. Mi-17 V5 helicopters are currently the most common in the Indian Air Force and are even used by the country's top officials for transportation. Instead of 48 Russian helicopters, they will be replaced by Indian ones