• Defence Acquisition Council, under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for 10 capital acquisition proposals amounting to about Rs 1.05 lakh crore through indigenous sourcing. 

• The approval for the procurement of Mine Counter-Measure Vessels (MCMVs) comes after at least three failed attempts to procure them in the last 15 years. 

• The force has been strongly pitching for acquiring the specialised warships that are crucial for detection, tracking and destroying underwater mines.

• Underwater mines are used by adversaries to disrupt maritime trade, choke harbours and ports, and disrupt shipping.

• The DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) or initial approval procurement of armoured recovery vehicles, electronic warfare system, integrated common inventory management system for the tri-services and surface-to-air missiles.

• These procurements will provide higher mobility, effective air defence, better supply chain management and augment the operational preparedness of the armed forces.

• Approvals were also accorded for procurement of moored mines, super rapid gun mount and submersible autonomous vessels.

• These procurements will enable mitigation of potential risks posed to the naval and merchant vessels.

• To provide further impetus to indigenous design and development, AoNs were accorded under the Buy (Indian-Indigenously designed developed and manufactured) category.

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:

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

ii) Accord of acceptance of necessity to acquisition proposals. 

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

iv) Look into issues relating to single vendor clearance. 

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

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

vii) Field trial evaluation.

Manorama Yearbook app is now available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store