• India
  • Jun 07

Defence Acquisition Council clears proposals worth Rs 76,390 crore

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, approved the procurement of military equipment and platforms worth Rs 76,390 crore from domestic industries to enhance India's overall combat capabilities.

The DAC cleared the procurement of next-generation corvettes (NGCs), manufacture of Dornier aircrafts and Su-30 MKI aero-engines, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles and weapon-locating radars among others.

What is the role of the Defence Acquisition Council?

• Pursuant to the recommendations made by the group of ministers on reforming the national security system in February 2001, a separate, dedicated structure for defence procurement was set up.

• In continuation of its efforts to streamline defence procurement procedures and to reduce timelines so as to ensure timely delivery of equipment to the armed forces, various measures to simplify the defence procurement procedure have been undertaken.

• A Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) was created as an overarching structure with the defence minister as its chairman.

• The DAC is the highest decision-making body of the defence ministry on procurement.

• The defence minister is the chairman of DAC. Its members include Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force.

• The main objective of the DAC is to ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the armed forces in terms of capabilities sought and time frame prescribed by optimally utilizing the allocated budgetary resources.

Its functions include: 

• Give in principle approval of a 15 years Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) for defence forces.

• Accord of acceptance of necessity to acquisition proposals. 

• Categorisation of the acquisition proposals relating to ‘Buy’, ‘Buy & Make’ and ‘Make’. 

• Look into issues relating to single vendor clearance. 

• Take decisions regarding ‘offset’ provisions in respect of acquisition proposals above Rs 300 crore.

• Take decisions regarding Transfer of Technology under the ‘Buy & Make’ category of acquisition proposals. 

• Field trial evaluation.

Highlights of the DAC meeting:

• The DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for capital acquisition proposals of the Armed Forces amounting to Rs 76,390 crore under ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ and ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ categories. 

• The grant of ‘Acceptance of Necessity’ clears the way for the tendering process to start.

• For the Indian Army, the DAC accorded fresh AoNs for procurement of Rough Terrain Fork Lift Trucks (RTFLTs), Bridge Laying Tanks (BLTs), Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles (Wh AFVs) with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) and Weapon Locating Radars (WLRs) through domestic sources with emphasis on indigenous design and development.

• For the Indian Navy, the DAC accorded approval for the procurement of NGCs at an estimated cost of around Rs 36,000 crore. The NGCs will be versatile platforms for a variety of roles namely surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, Surface Action Group (SAG) operations, search and attack and coastal defence.

• The NGCs would contribute to further India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region) initiative. The NGCs would be constructed based on a new in-house design of the Indian Navy, using the latest technology of ship building.

• The DAC also approved a proposal for the manufacture of Dornier aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), with a focus on enhancing indigenisation.

• The DAC accorded AoNs for the manufacture of Dornier Aircraft and Su-30 MKI aero-engines by the Navratna CPSE M/s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with focus on enhancing indigenisation, particularly in indigenising aero-engine material.

• In pursuance of the government’s vision for digital transformation in defence, ‘Digital Coast Guard’ project under ‘Buy’ (Indian) category has been approved by the DAC. Under this project, a pan-India secure network for digitising of various surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and HR processes in Coast Guard will be established.

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