News Excerpt:

Defence Acquisition Council approves capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 2.23 lakh crore to enhance the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces.

Highlights of the meeting:

• The DAC has approved Acceptance of Necessity (AoNs) for Capital Acquisition Proposals, of which acquisition worth 98% of the total AoN amount will be sourced from domestic industries.
• The DAC has accorded the AoN for procurement of -
• Two types of Anti-tank Munitions, namely, Area Denial Munition (ADM) Type-2 and Type-3.
• 155 mm Nubless projectile for use in 155 mm Artillery guns.
• Automatic Target Tracker (ATT) and Digital Basaltic Computer (DBC) for T-90 Tanks.
• Medium Range Anti-Ship Missiles (MRAShM), is envisaged as a lightweight Surface-to-Surface Missile, a primary offensive weapon onboard Indian Naval Ships.
• Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk 1A from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• Upgradation of Su-30 MKI Aircraft indigenously from HAL.
• To maximise indigenisation, the DAC has approved a major amendment in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.
• In all procurement cases, a minimum of 50% of indigenous content shall be in the form of material, components & software manufactured in India.
• To calculate Indigenous content, the cost of Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC)/Comprehensive Maintenance Contract (CMC)/After Sale Service shall be excluded.
• To encourage start-ups/MSMEs participation in the defence ecosystem -
• Procurement cases with AoN cost up to Rs 300 crore, registered MSMEs and recognised start-ups will be considered for issue of Request for Proposal (RFP) without any stipulation of financial parameters, which can further be relaxed with approval of the Defence Procurement Board (DPB) for AoN cost upto Rs 500 crore on case-to-case basis.

Significance:

• This will substantially boost the Indian defence industry towards achieving the goal of ‘Aatmanirbharta’.
• Procurement of this equipment will provide enormous strength to the armed forces.
• Acquisition from domestic defence industries will take indigenous capability to new heights.
• It will also reduce dependability on foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) substantially.