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Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) under the Chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for Capital Acquisition proposals of Armed Forces amounting to Rs 8,357 crore.
Ministry of Defence in its statement said, “AoNs accorded by DAC include procurement of Night Sight (Image Intensifier), Light Vehicles GS 4X4, Air Defence Fire Control Radar (Light) and GSAT 7B Satellite.”
The satellite will be for communication requirements of the Army, said a source. The acquisition of these equipment and systems, the MoD said, “will enhance operational preparedness of Armed Forces by providing better visibility, enhanced mobility, improved communication and increased capability of detecting enemy aircraft.”
As an impetus to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, all of these proposals have been approved under ‘Buy (Indian IDDM)’ category with focus on indigenous design & development and manufacturing in India.
In an initiative to encourage innovation, the DAC also cleared the procurement of 14 items worth Rs 380.43 crore from the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) startups/MSMEs.
MoD informed these items will be procured by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.
In order to fast-track the procurement from the startups/MSMEs the DAC also approved the new simplified procedure for procurement from iDEX startups/MSMEs.
The procurement cycle from the AON to contract signing will be around 22 weeks as per the new procedure, Ministry informed.
Ministry also decided that all modernisation requirements of defence forces to be indigenously sourced and import to be resorted to only as exception. It is part of the policy initiatives approved by the DAC in the Defence Acquisition Policy 2020
To accelerate the pace of indigenisation, achieve self-reliance in defence and to facilitate Ease of Doing Business for defence industry, DAC approved other policy initiatives in the DAP-2020 including the bank guarentee
The initiatives decisions taken, “To reduce financial burden on defence industry, requirement of the Integrity Pact Bank Guarantees is to be dispensed with and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to be introduced as bid security and PCIP cover upto contract stage. EMD will be applicable only for proposals of Rs 100 Cr and above and MSMEs & Startups will be exempted from EMD.”
To assist further, “Vendors whose products are successfully trial evaluated will be provided a certificate to that effect.”
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