The Centre intends to make fast-track acquisitions for the armed forces to maintain operational capabilities not just during war-time but also during peacetime, defence minister Manohar Parrikar indic
The Centre intends to make fast-track acquisitions for the armed forces to maintain operational capabilities not just during war-time but also during peacetime, defence minister Manohar Parrikar indicated on Monday. The government also intends to put in place a “collegiate system” that may sanction crucially-needed defence acquisitions, especially for the special forces, from a vendor directly if the concerned product has proven capabilities beyond doubt that the armed forces need. But this will be done after due diligence and deliberations even if there is a “single vendor situation”. The government is also aiming to put in place a mechanism wherein even if a firm is blacklisted, the government can acquire crucial spare parts from that company if the acquisition of the main product had been sanctioned before the decision to blacklist. The new DPP could stipulate either temporary blacklisting — which would be for a certain period of time — or else permanently. Companies that have already been blacklisted could appeal before a committee that the government will set up and be given a chance to prove that they were unfairly blacklisted. Thereafter the government will take a decision whether or not to continue with the blacklisting. The government will try to publicly declare the contents of the new Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) by March 28 and hopes to make it effective from April 2. It will also come out with the ordnance factory manual and the defence procurement manual in the next few months, once the DPP, 2016, is made public.
Sources indicated that despite the Kargil coffin controversy during the tenure of the Vajpayee government, the government won’t be afraid to fast-track acquisitions but that these would be done after taking due precautions. Sources said vendors who give bribes will continue to be punished and that there would be no relaxation in rules on this. A meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council presided over by Mr Parrikar cleared the first five chapters and the seventh chapter of the DPP but the sixth chapter pertaining to strategic partnership is yet to be finalised. The new DPP is expected to strongly push for the government’s Make in India initiative wherein indigenously designed and developed defence products with indigenisation content of at least 40 per cent is likely to be encouraged.
The Government is also expected to take steps to address shortage of crucial platforms for the armed forces such as submarines and fighter aircraft. But smaller and crucial defence equipment too is not being ignored. The Government is also likely to swiftly process acquisitions of bullet-proof vests for the Army that have been designed by the DRDO.
To make defence acquisitions swifter, the Government may also ask the defence establishment to make a draft copy of the Request for Proposal (RFP) even before the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for acquisition of the product is approved.
Many aspects of the DPP was already cleared by the DAC in February. This included a new category to acquire weapons - IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured). The IDDM is likely to be the first preferred category of preference under the new DPP.
Meanwhile, on the OPOP payments issue, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said these were being disbursed to ex-servicemen in “record time”. The MoD said, “More than two-thirds of the Ex-Servicemen have now been paid the OROP arrears. Payments have now reached the accounts of 13.02 lakh pensioners amounting to about Rs. 2,293 crore. This amount has been released through Defence Pension Disbursing Offices (DPDOs), the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Punjab National Bank (PNB).”
