The Defence Ministry approved key guidelines for implementation of an ambitious policy under which select private firms will be roped in to build military platforms like submarines and fighter jets in India in partnership with foreign entities. The guidelines for carrying out various procurement projects under the Strategic Partnership (SP) model were approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the ministry’s highest decision making body, officials said.
Make in India’ in defence sector, is primarily driven by capital acquisition of defence equipment and other policy measures. In the last four financial years i.e. from 2014-15 to 2017-18, Government has accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to 151 proposals, worth Rs.2,66,700 Crore approximately under ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’, ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ or ‘Make’ categories of capital procurement as per Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), which means Request for Proposal (RFP) shall be issued only to Indian Vendors.
In the last four financial years i.e. from 2014-15 to 2017-18, 128 contracts worth Rs.119000 Crore have been signed with Indian vendors for capital procurement of defence equipment.
DPP stipulates a time schedule for completion of the procurement cycle. The time taken to undertake capital procurement of defence equipment depends on the nature and complexity of the equipment being procured. Nonetheless, under the DPP-2016 Government has laid down further provisions for ensuring swift decision making in defence procurements. In addition, all the procurement schemes are regularly reviewed and prioritized on the basis of critical operational needs of the Armed Forces.
In the Budget Speech 2018, Government has announced that it will bring out an industry friendly Defence Production Policy-2018 to promote domestic production by public sector, private sector and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). A draft Defence Production Policy-2018 has been prepared which provides a focused, structured and significant thrust to development of defence design and production capabilities in the country. The draft policy has been shared with all concerned stakeholders for their views before its approval and final notification.