Defence Ministry issues amended draft 'Defence Acquisition Procedure' | Details

One of most highlighting features of the new draft is the proposal to ban the imports of certain weapons.

The Defence Ministry has released the second draft defence procurement procedure in line with the call for 'AtmanirbharBharat' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The revised draft was published for the second time on Tuesday after it was released in April earlier this year. In the amended policy, the title has been changed from the Defence Procurement Procedure to Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP). The new draft read, "Based on inputs received from the environment, DPP-2020 has now been titled as Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020." The draft has sought comments from all the stakeholders by 10^th Aug 2020.

Proposal to ban imports of certain weapons

The revised draft now incorporates a new form of procurement, Buy (India's global-manufacture). The draft mandates the procurement of at least 50 per cent of the contract value by international suppliers to indigenize. This would require international vendors to produce a greater portion of their Indian products. The desired levels of indigenization can be achieved by either the entire equipment or spares/assemblies/sub-assemblies/Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility for the equipment, through its subsidiary in India.

One of the most highlighting features of the new draft is the proposal to ban the imports of certain weapons. The MoD has contended that it looks to ban such weapons which it thinks can be easily manufactured in India but the list is yet to be finalised. "With a view to promoting the domestic and indigenous industry as also align the DAP with the reforms enunciated in the Atmanirbhar Abhiyan (self-reliance campaign), the MoD will notify a list of weapons/platforms banned for import, updated from time to time," read the draft. Moreover, the duration for procuring emergency purchases has been also been increased in the draft from the existing 112-169 days to a period of 122-231 days.

Further, the draft includes a detailed chapter on Leasing, a concept that was introduced in the draft issued in April 2020. Under leasing, the defence forces will be allowed to lease the defence equipment from companies or foreign countries instead of purchasing. The process intents to save money from the defence budget which is one of the lowest since the 1962 India-China war.