The Ministry of Defence through its Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has cleared a proposal of acquiring military hardware and equipment worth Rs 8,357 crores to further enhance and improve the operational capabilities of the Armed Forces.

The procurement will include the multi-crore GSAT-7B satellite, image intensifiers (night sight) for assault rifles, GS 4X4 light vehicles and a few air defence fire control radars.

The DAC meeting was headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the proposal for procurement was accorded as "Acceptance of Necessity" (AON). With the grant of AON, the process for rolling out tenders can be started at the earliest. The importance of the move can be made out by the statement issued after the meeting which stated “the acquisition of these equipment and systems will enhance operational preparedness of armed forces by providing better visibility, enhanced mobility, improved communication and increased capability of detecting enemy aircraft.”

It is worth mentioning that the said proposal has been given clearance under the ‘Buy Indian (IDDM)’ category where IDDM means Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured as the ministry aims at modernizing the armed forces using indigenous facilities.

In addition, the DAC also approved a sum of approximately Rs 380 crores for procuring 14 different defence items from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) start-ups which in itself is an initiative undertaken and funded by the defence ministry to contribute towards modernization of the Defence and Aerospace Industry for boosting innovation and self-reliance.

“The DAC has accorded AON for procurement of 14 iDEX products, within 30 months of contract for prototype development. Simplified iDEX procurement has been introduced. AON to Procurement timelines reduced from more than 2 years to 5months, keeping in line with the Innovation Ecosystem.” tweeted Rajnath Singh.

In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, indigenisation is of paramount importance as the recent events could disrupt supply chains for very long and take a massive toll on India’s defence requirements.