Why hasn't Indian army modernized its combat uniform?

The way we fight war might change with the weaponry of modern warfare constantly getting upgraded and more lethal, but the unwritten rules of firefights remains the same. 

"Don't get seen before you can see your enemy."

(The disruptive pixelated battle pattern that was termed as modernized was created as a better means of camoflague both during the day and night, which meant it should actively conceal someone from a blind eye or a night vision or an infra red goggle. The downside was, you needed to make a different uniform for every combat environment to mantain that rationale of concealment. Which meant 4 uniforms for 4 combat environments- woodland, desert, urban and desert urban.)

US Army Case:

Lets take an example of US changing the uniform: Why did the US military go retro instead of keeping the digital pattern.

Simple- war. In Afghanistan, excerpts from captured Taliban prisoners revealed that US army ACUs made it easier for the Taliban to spot from a distance, negating any element of surprise. Infact, throughout the Global war on terror, special mission units like the Rangers, SEALs, Delta, etc. opted out of wearing digital camo ACUs, because in the environments and conditions they fought in, woodland pattern camo worked better at concealment. 

And wearing a digital camo uniform might make you look cool, but it's a bullet magnet.

The rule of thumb in any engagement is that you don't let your enemy see you before you see him or rather, if you see your enemy, you hope to hell that he doesn't see you.

Indian Context:

So individual concealment is the key. And that's where the Woodland pattern works. And the army's gambit to not change the pattern of uniform actually works.

Infact, another thing that the Indian soldiers at the LOC do, is to make their uniforms look old, dusted and faded instead of new. It's a technique learnt from Jungle Warfare school. The older the uniform looks, the more its able to blend in better with its surroundings.

 India's special forces:

While the Marcos, Cobras and Garuds wear a digital camo pattern, Para SF still goes for the tried and tested Woodland camo. And they fade out their uniforms, so that it can blend better with the environment.

Design modification: Rank Visibility

In below pictures we can see that the US,PAKIS, UK etc have designed combat uniform which has insignia on the chest portion or the collar or both. Which is more practical to show the rank of the officer when he is fully suited up in protection gear during combat situations/ joint military exercises.

Indian Army combat uniform: with  insignia is on the shoulders,which will be covered if they wear bullet proof west. Since collar insignia is allotted only to officers from the rank of colonel, this is also not much helpful.

Conventional forces continue to use the old uniform type. Can’t tell for sure if the solider is a Sepoy or a Lt. Colonel.

Having said that, it is not as if Indian army is unaware of these limitations and they have fixed it for jawans posted in Siachin like we can see in the below picture.

The future: Futuristic Infantry Soldier As a System (F-INSAS)

“To reduce casualties drastically, the army decided to ape the western world’s soldier modernisation programme. It conceived an ambitious project called 'Future Infantry Soldiers As A System' (F-INSAS) in 2005.”

UNIFORM DETAILS

The infantry soldiers was to be equipped with modular weapon systems that were to have multi-functions. As per the plans the details are:

• The core systems include bullet proof helmet and visor. The bullet proof helmet is an integrated assembly equipped with helmet mounted flash light, thermal sensors and night vision device, miniature computer with audio headsets.
• The personal clothing of this soldier of the future would be lightweight with a bullet-proof jacket. The futuristic jacket would be non-flammable, waterproof yet breathable (Flexible ballistic protection, Hard ballistic protection, Electronic jacket, Load-bearing structure), level IV bullet-proof jacket.
• The new attire will enable him to carry extra loads and resist the impact of nuclear, radiological, chemical and biological (NRCB) warfare. The uniform will also carry solar elements for charging a palmtop computers and other attached electronic equipment.
• It will contain external an oxygen supply and respirator to provide protection against gas and smoke and will include fire-proof knee and elbow pads and hand gloves and ballistic & laser eye protection goggles. A bullet-proof, armored waistcoat including flexible ballistic, hard ballistic, ceramic armor plates covering the front, back and groin and an armored, electronic jacket with a load-bearing system will also be included.
• The electronic jacket integrates the electronics (such as a computer unit, energy manager unit, peripheral equipment interfaces, user interfaces, a radio, a man-machine interface, a Global Positioning System (GPS), cables, connector, camouflaging system, wearable environmental control and a micro-climate heating & cooling system).
• A flexible water bottle, magazines, grenades and other equipment holders and pockets optimizes weight distribution on the soldier. The new uniform will have vests with sensors to monitor the soldier's health parameters and provide quick medical relief.
• He might also wear flame-resistant, moisture-defeating undergarments; flame-resistant hand, face, and foot protection and a pair of non-skid shoes with mine & explosive detection sensors would complete the ensemble. system includes inbuilt water purifier system so they have purified drinking water
• The weapons sub-system is built around a multi calibre individual weapon system with the fourth calibre attached to a grenade launcher. These include a 5.56 mm, a 7.62 mm and a new 6.8 mm under development for the first time in India.
• The soldier will be equipped with a long list of accessories, some of which include Integrated Multifunction Sight Device Night Vision Equipment,Thermal Imager, a Laser Range-Finder, Colour Charge-Coupled-Device (CCD) Camera, Global Positioning System (GPS) and a Digital Magnetic Compass, Compact Laser-Based Instruments, Integrated Electro-Optical Surveillance and Fire Control Systems, Advanced GPS receivers, Infrared sensors,Thermal sensors, Electro optical sensors, Spectroscopic sensors, Electromagnetic and Radio frequency sensors and many other sensors, radars and jammers would also be carried.