Make in India in defence: New acquisition rules this month

Ministry of Defence has conveyed to a delegation from US companies — they held a meeting with ministry officials Monday morning — that the DPP rollout date has been scheduled for December 15.

The Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), which will be the roadmap for the government’s flagship Make in India programme that is being pushed as the future of defence acquisitions, is likely to be rolled out by the middle of December.

The Indian Express has learnt that the Ministry of Defence has conveyed to a delegation from US companies — they held a meeting with ministry officials Monday morning — that the DPP rollout date has been scheduled for December 15. Last Saturday, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar promised a “perfect” document “soon”.

“A meeting was held on Monday morning with representatives of US defence companies. The ministry has promised that the new DPP, as well as the defence offset policy, shall be rolled out in December,” a ministry official said.

An industry representative, who was at the meeting, confirmed the ministry’s commitment. The representative said December 15 has been promised as the DPP announcement date.

The DPP-2013, which presently serves as the guiding document for India’s defence acquisitions, has been under revision.

While existing guidelines facilitate defence acquisitions under various categories such as ‘Make Indian’, ‘Buy and make Indian’, ‘Buy global’, the new policy will incorporate suggestions by the Dhirendra Singh committee for better facilitation of Make in India in defence. Going beyond indigenous production, the new procedure is expected to define blacklisting of firms, role of agents/middlemen in defence procurements, integrity pact, offsets besides other crucial parameters governing defence acquisitions.

The DPP is crucial for Make in India because critical acquisition programmes are awaiting guidelines for a final go-ahead.

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