The silver jubilee celebrations of the 18 Mechanised Infantry Battalion, Hisar, in November, took one’s mind back to the origin of the mechanised infantry in the Army.
It was felt during the 1965 war that the infantry battalions operating with the armour should have greater mobility. A decision was, therefore, taken in the late 60s to have mechanised infantry in the Army.
As a result, 200 Topaz (Czechoslovakian) armoured personnel carriers (APCs) were imported to equip six old infantry battalions with these.
Over the years, more infantry battalions were converted into mechanised infantry. It was in 1983 that the Mechanised Infantry Regimental Centre was raised at Ahmednagar.
Source:- TNS