India's defence ministry has cleared procurement proposals of over Rs. 16,000 crore, including that of additional Israeli Barak missiles for the navy, sources said Monday.

 

 The sources said that Defence Acquisitions Council headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony had also cleared projects for acquiring 41 Dhruv advanced light helicopters, two deep submergence submarine rescue vessels and 16 anti-submarine boats.

 

 The sources said that the ministry had put on hold procurement of Barak-I missile because of a Central Bureau of Investigation case for the past over five years.

 

 They said that clearance for the Barak missiles is expected to come as a relief for navy which had strongly pitched for them to due to their depleting stocks.