DAC Approves Rs. 1.1L Cr Defence Deals; 98% Procurement From Indian Industry

The Defence Acquisition Council has given in-principle administrative approval for various acquisition proposals of the Defence Forces at an estimated cost of about Rs 110,000 crore. The council granted approval for the procurement of chemical biological radiological and nuclear recce vehicles, high mobility vehicles, self-propelled mechanical mine layers, advanced light helicopters, trawl tanks and sarvatra bridge system, Ministry of Defence, said in a release on Monday.

The approval was granted under the leadership of defence minister Rajnath Singh on September 7. Approximately 98% of procurements will be made from the Indian Industry, the release said.

The CBRN recce vehicles will be capable of detecting, identifying, monitoring and marking of areas contaminated with CBRN agents. The HMVs will enhance operational capabilities, logistic support and mobility in challenging terrains, the release said.

On the other hand, The MMLs will achieve the desired operational capability in terms of fast and responsive minelaying in difficult terrains. The ALHs will execute complex missions across all terrains and operational situations for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. Meanwhile, the trawl tanks bridge system will be utilised to provide composite crossings to fighting formations during operations in varied terrains.

Similarly, for naval army, the defence council has approved procurement of Arudhra Radars, Design & Development and subsequent procurement of marine gas turbines. "Arudhra radar will replace the existing air route surveillance radars at various naval air stations and mgt, a warship propulsion system, will reduce dependency on foreign vendors," according to the release.

Meanwhile, the Indian airforce, got approval for various proposals to enhance the war-fighting capability of fighters, transports and helicopters. The council also gave approvals for procuring ground-based multi-purpose jammer and installing defence forces secure access card system. "The GBMPJ will provide effective jamming against radars of adversaries and DEFSAC will replace existing paper based Identity Card/Passes/Permits with an interoperable Radio Frequency Identification-based smart cards system" according to the release.