Govt Clears ₹54K-Crore for Defence Acquisitions, Shortens Timelines

Under Defence Procurement Rules, Acceptance of Necessity by the Council is the First Step Towards Buying Military Equipment

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The defence acquisition council (DAC) on Thursday cleared the purchase of weapons and systems worth ₹54,000 crore and also approved guidelines for reducing timelines for acquiring defence equipment.

The purchases approved include airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) systems, torpedoes and tank engines, to boost the capabilities of the armed forces, the defence ministry said in a statement.

HT first reported on Thursday that DAC would re-engineer the acquisition process to make it quicker and more efficient, reducing timelines from the current 96 weeks to 24 weeks.

DAC, headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh, accorded its acceptance of necessity (AoN) for the military hardware a day after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared a ₹7,000-crore deal for 307 locally made artillery guns along with towing vehicles, in a boost for self-reliance in the country's defence manufacturing sector.