(HT)
The defence ministry on Thursday said it has set up a high-powered committee, headed by the director general (acquisition), to steer a comprehensive review of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 for speedy modernisation of the armed forces and boosting self-reliance in the critical sector.
The panel includes senior officers from the ministry, representatives from the defence industry and academia.
“Following the declaration of 2025 as the ‘year of reforms’, the defence ministry has initiated a comprehensive review of the DAP 2020 to align it with existing government policies and initiatives. A committee headed by the director general (acquisition) has been constituted to carry out extensive deliberations with all stakeholders,” the defence ministry said. The panel has begun consultations with the stakeholders and invited suggestions from them by July 5.
The aim of the review, the ministry said, is to meet the operational requirements and modernisation needs of the armed forces in a timely manner to ensure national security and achieve “atmanirbharta” (self-reliance) goals by promoting technology infusion through indigenously designed and developed systems.
It also seeks to boost the Make-in-India initiative by promoting defence manufacturing through facilitation of joint ventures and transfer of technology for the private sector, encouraging foreign original equipment manufacturers to invest in the country and establish India as a global defence manufacturing and MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) hub, the ministry said in a statement.
Another goal is to “promote design and development in both public and private sectors, with a focus on startups, innovators, and the private defence industry for indigenous technology infusion”.
The panel was formed weeks after India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7 and struck terror and military installations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the Pahalgam terror strike in which 26 people were shot dead.
It triggered a four-day military confrontation with Pakistan before the two sides reached an understanding on stopping all military action on May 10.
Indian forces deployed several indigenous weapons during the clash.
The panel has sought suggestions from stakeholders on a raft of issues including policy/procedural changes to streamline the acquisition processes, ease of doing business, conduct of trials, post-contract management, fast-track procedures, adoption of new technologies including artificial intelligence, and language improvements to eliminate ambiguity and enhance procedural clarity in the DAP.
On May 30, defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said DAP 2020, the document that spells out the complex procurement process, is being revisited to reflect current realities.
He said the government is taking steps to shorten the weapon procurement cycle and has already cut it by more than a year — a move aimed at accelerating the modernisation of the armed forces.
“The defence ministry has already, in the year of reforms, slashed the timelines for some of the processes in the procurement cycle. This would save about 69 weeks overall in the process timeline,” he said at a defence conclave.
There is a need to shift away from the traditional nomination-based procurement focused mostly on the public sector to a more competitive pricing model where both the public and private sector can compete for orders, he said, adding this approach is already being implemented for shipbuilding and recently for the AMCA (advanced medium combat aircraft) project.
The defence ministry has declared 2025 as the year of reforms aimed at transforming the military into a technologically advanced, combat-ready force capable of tackling new challenges.
The nine areas identified by the defence ministry for focused intervention include simplifying weapons buying procedures, setting up of integrated theatre commands for the best use of the military’s resources to fight future wars, and new domains such as cyber and space.
On May 29, the chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh put the spotlight on the armed forces’ agonising wait for new weapons and systems, saying he could not recall a single instance of a project being executed on time, in what was seen as a wake-up call for the country’s defence production sector.
“Timelines are a big issue,” Singh said at the time.
