DAC Clears ₹2.12 Lakh Crore Defence Proposals, 82% From Indian Firms

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Monday, 26 October, gave Acceptance of Necessity to capital acquisition proposals worth about ₹2.12 lakh crore for the Army, Navy and Air Force, according to a Ministry of Defence release reported by ETV Bharat and others. The ministry said about 82 per cent of the cleared proposals will be bought from Indian industry. Acceptance of Necessity is an in-principle approval; it is not a contract.

Drones, Guns and Helicopters on the List

For the Army, the DAC cleared High Mobility Vehicles, a Self-Propelled Tracked Gun System, the Gun Shot Response System, Light Multi Role Helicopters, Very Short-Range Air Defence Systems, a platform-based counter-drone system, long-range and surveillance unmanned aircraft, an Integrated Surveillance and Strike System and a Long Range Kamikaze Drone System. The Light Multi Role Helicopter will serve both the Army and the Air Force.

The Navy gets an Active Offboard Decoy System, which the release says will improve defence against anti-ship missiles. The Air Force list covers helicopters, including Special Utility Helicopters, air defence systems, weapons and Mobile X-Band Doppler Weather Radar Systems.

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An Approval, Not a Purchase Order

None of these items is bought yet. After Acceptance of Necessity, the services issue tenders or requests for proposals, vendors are shortlisted, trials are held and the Defence Ministry signs contracts, which usually takes months or years. The 82 per cent figure is the share the ministry expects to source domestically, so it can shift when contracts are finalised.

Second Big Defence Push in a Week

The approval came days after Rajnath Singh released the Army’s new Land Warfare Doctrine, which covers drones, artificial intelligence and multi-domain operations. Earlier this year, in March, the DAC cleared proposals worth over ₹2 lakh crore, All India Radio reported.

Next Stage Is Tendering

The ministry has not given a timeline for tenders or contracts for the items cleared on 26 October. More defence stories are in our Daily Updates section.

Source: Based on reporting by ETV Bharat, Upstox and The Machine Maker.

Image: PTI.