The India’s Ministry of Defence will buy 32 Dhruv advanced light helicopters at around INR 8,000 Crore for Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

That was reported by lifeofsoldiers.com.

In a major boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the government has cleared an Rs 8,000 crore proposal to acquire 32 ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) for the Indian Navy (IN) and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG). These advanced helicopters have been locally designed and built by state-run aviation giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The Dhruv is a utility helicopter developed and manufactured by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The Dhruv entered service in 2002. It is designed to meet the requirement of both military and civil operators, with military variants of the helicopter being developed for the Indian Armed Forces, while a variant for civilian/commercial use has also been developed.

The Dhruv helicopter is of conventional design and about two-thirds by weight of composite construction. The high tail boom allows easy access to the rear clamshell loading doors.

The four-bladed hingeless main rotor can be manually folded.