Journalism of Courage
Premium

Defence Acquisition Council approves procurement from start-ups

In a meeting chaired by Defence minister Rajnath Singh Tuesday, the DAC also approved a new, simplified procedure to fast-track procurement from iDEX startups and MSMEs.

Defence Acquisition Council, Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, iDEX, Defence Excellence start-ups, Rajnath singh, India news, Indian express, Indian express news, current affairsDefence Minister Rajnath Singh (PTI/File)
Advertisement

The Defence Acquisition Council for the first time has cleared the procurement of 14 items worth Rs 380.43 crore from Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) start-ups. These items will be procured by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.

In a meeting chaired by Defence minister Rajnath Singh Tuesday, the DAC also approved a new, simplified procedure to fast-track procurement from iDEX startups and MSMEs.

“The procurement cycle…. will be around 22 weeks as per the new procedure. Suitable incorporation will be made in the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2022. The DAC also

approved the simplified procedure for Make-II category projects on similar lines of iDEX procedure and would considerably bring down the time taken from prototype development to Contract signing in Make-II projects,” said a statement from the Ministry Tuesday.

The iDEX programme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018 to foster innovation and incorporate cutting-edge technology in the Armed Forces within a swift time-frame.

It is expected that around 25-40 items, after the successful prototyping by the iDEX start-ups, will be ready for procurement by the year’s end.

On Tuesday, the DAC also accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for Capital Acquisition proposals for the Armed Forces amounting to Rs 8,357 crore.

Story continues below this ad

The DAC said modernisation requirements of the defence forces are to be indigenously sourced and import should be resorted to only as an exception.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
  • Defence Acquisition Council rajnath singh
Edition
Install the Express App for
a better experience
Featured
Trending Topics
News
Multimedia
Follow Us
Express InvestigationRamdev aide Balkrishna gets Uttarakhand tourism project, for which 3 firms bid — all controlled by Balkrishna
X