New Delhi. In a major development, Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met in New Delhi on September 25 to accord an approval to procure 1000 engines of 1000 BHP for fitment in T-72 tanks of the Army under ‘Buy & Make’ category.

The approximate cost of the procurement is over Rs 2300 crore.

Post transfer of technology most of these engines will be manufactured by Ordnance Factories Board (OFB). The engines will enhance mobility, agility and acceleration of T-72 tanks making them more versatile and effective in the battlefield.

In furtherance of efforts to reduce timelines in defence procurements and streamline Defence Procurement Procedures, the DAC discussed and approved several amendment to Defence Procurement Procedure-2016 (DPP-16), the manual governing the defence procurements.

The significant changes inter-alia include limiting the time period for executing Repeat Order to five years after date of completion of warranty of final delivery in the previous contract. Repeat Order provisions have also been extended to procurements by other services like the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) andBorder Roads Organisation (BRO).

The amendments also include permissions to commence with benchmarking of cost for equipment immediately on receipt of the trial report in the Service headquarter, legislating provisions for Exchange Rate Variations when pursuing procurement with an ‘Option Clause’, providing clarity on guidelines for easing the provisions for imposition of LD Clause in upgradation/ alteration cases, automatic incorporation of applicability of the latest legislation or changes or amendment of any act or law, rules or regulations.

The DAC also accorded approval for doing away with Bank Guarantee for Essential Parameters ‘B’ if the same are trial evaluated during the field evaluations trials. Direction were also given to include the names of Independent Monitors (IMs) in the RFP for Defence Capital Acquisitions.

The measures taken recently will go a long way in obviating under procedural delays and will hasten activities besides shrinking the procurement timelines giving due preference to indigenization.