New Delhi, Aug 11 (UNI) There should not be any doubt about defence preparedness and availability of arms and ammunition, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha today. Answering supplementary queries during Question Hour, the Minister said defence preparedness is a continuous process and the armed forces are all well equipped with arms and ammunition. "There has been a considerable progress in indigenous manufacturing also and this has been going on through several years," he said. Mr Jaitley was responding to supplementary questions from members including K C Venugopal (Congress), E T Mohammed Basheer (IUML) and Manoj Rajoria (BJP). Mr Venugopal referred to recent media reports quoting serving Vice Chief of Army that preparation is not up to the expectation. Mr Basheer wanted to know whether adequate steps were being taken to make Indian armed forces self-reliant in terms of manufacturing within the country. Responding to members, Mr Jaitley maintained no ordnance factory will be closed and there was also no need for concern about retrenchment of any employee in these ordnance factories. Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said during the last three years - 99 contracts involving Rs 1.07 lakh crore have been signed with Indian vendors and 61 contracts involving Rs 1,23,142.30 crore have been signed with foreign companies for "capital procurement" of defence equipment for Armed Forces such as Aircraft, Helicopters, Artillery, Missiles, Simulators and Ammunition. UNI DEVN RSA 1300