NEW DELHI, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government approved defense procurement including helicopters and artillery guns on Saturday, officials said.

The decision was taken by India's Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while chairing a meeting of defense acquisition council (DAC).

"The minister accorded approval for procurement for the services amounting to approximately INR 46,000 Crores (6.5 billion U.S. dollars)," a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

"The DAC in a landmark decision today, approved procurement of 111 Utility Helicopters for the Indian Navy at a cost of over INR 21,000 Crores (3 billion U.S. dollars)."

DAC is the highest decision-making body on procurement in the Indian Defense Ministry.

A statement issued by the ministry said the DAC also granted approval to a few other procurement proposals which included approval for acquisition of 150 indigenously designed and developed 155 mm advanced towed artillery gun systems for the Indian army, 24 multi-role helicopters to enhance capability of the Indian Navy at sea and 14 vertically launched short-range missile systems.