Defence Acquisition Council approves procurement worth over Rs 8,000 crore

New Delhi: Giving a further boost to Aatmanirbhta or Self Reliance in the defence sector, the Ministry of Defence has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for Capital Acquisition proposals of Armed Forces amounting to Rs 8,357 crore. All of these proposals have been approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, under the 'Buy (Indian IDDM)' category with a focus on indigenous design & development and manufacturing in India.

The Ministry of Defence said in a statement that AoNs accorded by the Defence Acquisition Council include procurement of Night Sight (Image Intensifier), Light Vehicles GS 4X4, Air Defence Fire Control Radar (Light) and GSAT 7B Satellite. Acquisition of this equipment and systems will enhance operational preparedness of Armed Forces by providing better visibility, enhanced mobility, improved communication and increased capability of detecting enemy aircraft.

In a path-breaking initiative to encourage innovation, the DAC also accorded consolidated AoN for procurements amounting to Rs 380.43 crore from the iDEX startups and MSMEs. To accelerate the pace of indigenisation, achieve self-reliance in defence and facilitate Ease of Doing Business for the defence industry, DAC approved effecting the following policy initiatives in the DAP-2020:
All modernisation requirements of defence forces to be indigenously sourced and import to be resorted to only as an exception.

To reduce the financial burden on the defence industry, the requirement of IPBG is to be dispensed with and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to be introduced as bid security and PCIP cover up to contract stage. EMD will be applicable only for proposals of Rs 100 Cr and above and MSMEs & Startups will be exempted from EMD.

Vendors whose products are successfully trial evaluated will be provided with a certificate to that effect. iDEX and Make II procedures have been simplified thereby compressing timelines and ensuring early placement of contracts on successful iDEX and Make II vendors.

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