India working to cut arms-buying timeline

Army test fires Akash Prime air defence system in Ladakh

- Rahul Singh

A high-powered defence ministry committee, steering a comprehensive review of India’s arms-buying rules, is looking at shortening actual acquisition timelines from the current seven-eight years to under two years for speedy modernisation of the armed forces, people tracking the matter said on Wednesday.

The panel, headed by director general (acquisition), has identified three key areas that account for delays in the procurement of critical weapons and systems, including preparation of the request for proposal (RFP), field evaluation trials and contract negotiations, the people said, asking not to be named.

The review of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 was ordered by the defence ministry in June and is expected to be concluded by December, HT learns.