NEW DELHI: Chaired by defence minister Manohar Parrikar, a three-hour-long marathon meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Monday besides clearing several critical military purchases worth about Rs 82,117 crore, also approved key changes in the blacklisting policy that would ensure faster buys of military hardware as well as salvage many ongoing deals struck down by rigid rules of blanket bans.
While an informed MoD source did not spell out the specifics of the new blacklisting norms — the details of which would be put out on the ministry’s website in a few days — there are sufficient indications including Mr Parrikar’s earlier statements that a softer blacklisting regime is a strong possibility.
Earlier the government had planned to to levy penalties — graded from stiff to soft — on business entities and individuals found violating rules of the Defence Procurement Procedure as well as product specific bans keeping national security considerations in mind.
The approved purchases, called Acceptance of Necessity (AON), is the first step in the acquisition process which will be followed by ‘Request for Information’ and ‘Request for Proposal’.
The approvals include purchases of 83 Tejas Mark 1A Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) along with simulators and ancillary equipment for the Indian Air Force at a cost of Rs 50,025 crore, 15 helicopters for the IAF and the Indian Army at a cost of Rs 2,911 crore, 598 mini-UAVs for the Army at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore and 464 T-90 Russian tanks at acost of Rs 13,448 crore.
