India will stop importing 101 items of military equipment in an effort to boost domestic defense production, defense minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday.

The list of 101 embargoed items contains some high technology weapon systems like artillery guns, assault rifles, corvettes, sonar systems, transport aircraft, light combat helicopters (LCHs), radars and many other items. The embargo will be implemented in phases and by December 2025 it will be completed. 

The move follows Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for defense self-reliance, Singh said. 

India has accelerated military purchases in the wake of a June border clash between Indian and Chinese troops. In July, the government rushed to approve the purchase of 33 Russian fighter jets and upgrades to 59 other planes, in addition to an earlier 5.43 billion U.S. dollars deal for S-400 air defense missile systems. Earlier this year, Modi pledged to U.S. President Donald Trump to buy 3 billion U.S. dollars worth of US equipment

Tensions between India and China reached their highest in years following the clash in a disputed stretch of border in the western Himalayas, but both nations have agreed on making efforts to deescalate. 

Military experts say India is short of combat planes, helicopters and field guns because of years of low funding.

India is among the countries that have purchased the most from the international arms market, importing equipment worth billions of dollars every year. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the last 10 years saw India spend more on foreign arms than any other country. 

"The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024," Singh wrote in a series of tweets.

"Our aim is to apprise the Indian defense industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realize the goal of indigenization."

India traditionally buys military equipment from Russia, but is increasingly purchasing from the United States and Israel. Modi has repeatedly called for cutting the military's dependence on expensive imports.

Between April 2015 and August 2020, the Indian defense services had contracted around 3.5 trillion rupees worth of items that are now on the hold list.

The government estimates around 4 trillion rupees worth of orders will now be placed with the domestic industry over the next five to seven years.

The list of embargoed items includes high technology weapon systems, artillery guns, sonar systems, transport aircrafts, light combat helicopters (LCHs), Singh said.

The defense ministry has also split the capital procurement budget for 2020/21 between domestic and foreign procurement routes, he added.

"A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly 520 billion rupees for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year."

(With input from agencies)