New Delhi: India today decided to revise its defence procurement rules, to simplify the acquisition process of arms and ammunition, apart from making the procedures inclusive of the entire military industrial ecosystem. The exercise is to be completed in six months from now.
Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh set up a committee under the chairmanship of Director General (Acquisition) Apurva Chandra to review the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) that were adopted by the ministry in May 2016 and the Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) of 2009.
“The committee will revise and align the procedures with the aim of ensuring seamless flow from asset acquisition to life cycle support,” a Ministry of Defence statement on Press Information Bureau website said. The DPP-2016 and DPM 2009 were already due for periodic revision.
“Aligning the procedures will ensure seamless flow from asset acquisition to life cycle support and strengthen the ‘Make in India‘ initiative of the government,” the statement said.
Eleven more members, not below the rank of Joint Secretary or Major General-equivalent would be part of the high-level committee under Apurva Chandra.
Terms of reference of the committee include:
- Revise the procedures as given in DPP 2016 and DPM 2009, so as to remove procedural bottlenecks and hasten defence acquisition.
- Align and standardise the provisions in the DPP 2016 and DPM 2009, wherever applicable, to optimise life cycle support for equipment.
- Simplify policy and procedures to facilitate greater participation of Indian Industry and develop robust Defence Industrial base.
- Wherever applicable, examine and incorporate new concepts, such as life cycle costing, life cycle support, performance based logistics, Information and Communication Technologies, lease contracting, codification and standardisation.
- Include provisions to promote Indian start-ups and research and development.
- Any other aspect which will contribute towards refining the acquisition process and support the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
“The committee has been given six months to submit its recommendations,” the statement said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to spend $250 billion over 10 years till 2025 on military modernisation to meet the twin challenge of arch rivals Pakistan and China.
India is currently the world’s second biggest arms importer for the 2014-18, according to a recent SIPRI study released in March this year. India has allocated $16-billion of its total $42-billion defence budget towards arms purchases to boost the capability of the 1.4-million-strong armed forces in 2019-20.
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