The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sanctioned ₹138.48 crore to the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for a “technical upgrade,” a senior government official said. The funds are meant to upgrade the Multi Agency Centre (MAC), a common counter-terrorism grid under Intelligence Bureau that was conceptualised in 2001, post-Kargil war.
The money was sanctioned months after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the functioning of MAC with State Director General of Police (DGP), Intelligence Bureau, army and other security agencies in a pan-India meeting in January stressing on the “need for better coordination and synergy among the central and State security agencies in countering the ever-changing counter terrorism and security challenges.”
This is the second upgrade planned for MAC. The first time it was overhauled was under the then Home Minister P. Chidambaram in 2009. The MAC’s foundation was laid down by the present National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval in 2001, who was then an additional director in the Intelligence Bureau.
