The Government of India has approved major changes to the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). The Defence Acquisition Council, DAC chaired by the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar which is the prime authority to lay down acquisition procedure gave its approval to the proposed changes. The new DPP (Defence Procurement Procedure) will streamline defence acquisitions made by the Defence establishments in India and give a big impetus to indigenisation through the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

 Points to Note 

• The highlights of the new procedure are a new category to promote domestic manufacturing, including government funding for Research & Development and recognition of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in technology development.
• The new DPP provides for increase in contract threshold from Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,000 crore for offsets.
• The new procedure aims to enhance private sector participation and speed up procurement process.
• It has also brought down the Acceptance of Necessity validity to six months from earlier one year, which means that the forces will have to issue tenders faster.
• Under the new move, 10 per cent extra weightage will be given if a system displays better qualities than required.

 What is Defence Procurement Procedure? 

• Defence Procurement Procedure is the procedure or set of regulations that are followed by the Government of India in procuring and buying defence equipment from private companies and other international companies or entities.
• These covers all the equipment bought or acquired for the three Defence services of India working under the aegis of the Defence Ministry of India namely the- Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force.

 What is Defence Acquisition Council? 

• The Defence Acquisition Council was formed by the Union Government, which is responsible for all the decisions taken regarding the acquisition to be made for the Defence forces.
• Chiefs of all the three armed forces are also members in the council along with other experts.
• The Defence Minister of India serves as the Chairman of the council.

The Defence Procurement Procedure is aimed at streamlining and modernising the armed forces as per the requirements.