Defence Ministry clears arms procurement worth Rs 28,732cr for Army
These proposals will enhance the overall combat prowess of the armed forces along the northern and western borders.
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), in its meeting today under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals of the armed forces amounting to Rs 8,357 crore.
As an impetus to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, all of these proposals have been approved under the ‘Buy (Indian IDDM)’ category with a focus on indigenous design & development and manufacturing in India, Defence Ministry said.
AoNs accorded by the DAC include procurement of Night Sight (Image Intensifier), Light Vehicles GS 4X4, Air Defence Fire Control Radar (Light) and GSAT 7B Satellite.
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Acquisition of this equipment and systems will enhance operational preparedness of the 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, the DAC approved affecting 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; and
–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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