The indigenously developed Arjun Main Battle Tank Mark 1A was handed over to the Indian Army by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday at Chennai.
PM Modi handed over the tank to Army Chief General MM Naravane on Sunday morning. The PM had arrived in Chennai to inaugurate and lay foundation stones for several key projects.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has indigenously designed, developed, and manufactured the state-of-the-art tank.
The PM also accepted a salute by the tank.
The Defence Ministry had recently cleared the induction of 118 Arjun Mark 1A tanks into the Indian Army, costing around Rs 8,400 crore.
The Prime Minister later proceeded to the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor stadium to launch several projects in the poll-bound state. He inaugurated the Chennai Metro Rail Phase-I extension, completed at a cost of 3,770 crore rupees.
He also flagged off passenger services from Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar. This 9.05 km long extension links North Chennai with the Airport and Central Railway Station.
PM Modi also inaugurated 22 km long fourth Railway line between Chennai Beach and Attipattu. It will be an additional track to Thiruvallur districts meant to ease out traffic from Chennai Port.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for the Discovery Campus of IIT Madras to be built at Thaiyur near Chennai at an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore in the first phase, over an area of 2 lakh sqm.
(With IANS inputs)