Latest news with #DefenceAcquisitionProcedure2020
India Gazette
a day ago
- Business
- India Gazette
India must boost production capacity for military-grade drones: Defence Secretary
New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Highlighting the role of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in modern warfare, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has said that India must boost its production capacity for military-grade drones. He noted that the Centre wants to cut the defence procurement cycle to a maximum of two years and the government will come up with a new Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2025) in six months. 'I would say that India has a significant manufacturing ecosystem for drones, but a lot of it is really for civilian drones. Military-grade drones, not so much. There are, I would say, three to four, five manufacturers who have some capacity in that area. It's something we'll have to build up quickly,' Singh told ANI in an interview. 'And to the extent that, like all military purchases, it's a monopsony. The government is the only buyer. And I guess the government will have to use its buying power to provide the resources and give visibility in terms of orders to that sort of small ecosystem, which hopefully will gradually become a large ecosystem of military-grade drone manufacturers,' he added. He said that military-grade drone production in the country needs some transfer of technology, as a lot of the technology may not be available domestically. 'I would say that we are looking at least three to four manufacturers who are coming up with this type of capacity in terms of military grade drones. We will encourage them through orders and through tenders so that they can start investing in this area even more, including tying up with a lot of the technologies from outside,' he said. 'The volume that we can generate in terms of the size of the orders that can be bigger than the combined turnover of all the other civilian drone manufacturers in the country. That type of ensuring that they have a full order book if they make investments for inter-military grade drones, we will try to ensure by speeding up procurement and by giving them visibility in terms of orders,' he added. The Defence Secretary said he would like to see a situation where the maximum time taken for any procurement, even the most complex ones, should not exceed about two years. 'Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 is a very bulky book. It's a bible for the defence industry. We need to make it simpler. A lot of redundant steps can be avoided. A lot of things can be done concurrently rather than sequentially. And a lot of simplification in terms of the kind of companies that can bid, where we've put in some unnecessary conditionalities, all those have to be removed,' he said. 'So, for that, we have a committee now working. The target date is six months from today. So you'll have a new DAP. It will be DAP-25 rather than DAP-20,' he added. (ANI)
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
India must boost production capacity for military-grade drones: Defence Secretary
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Highlighting the role of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in modern warfare Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has said that India must boost its production capacity for military-grade drones. He noted that the Centre wants to cut the defence procurement cycle to a maximum of two years and the government will come up with a new Defence Acquisition Procedure DAP 2025) in six months."I would say that India has a significant manufacturing ecosystem for drones, but a lot of it is really for civilian drones. Military-grade drones, not so much. There are, I would say, three to four, five manufacturers who have some capacity in that area. It's something we'll have to build up quickly," Singh told in an interview."And to the extent that, like all military purchases, it's a monopsony. The government is the only buyer. And I guess the government will have to use its buying power to provide the resources and give visibility in terms of orders to that sort of small ecosystem, which hopefully will gradually become a large ecosystem of military-grade drone manufacturers," he said that military-grade drone production in the country needs some transfer of technology, as a lot of the technology may not be available domestically."I would say that we are looking at least three to four manufacturers who are coming up with this type of capacity in terms of military grade drones. We will encourage them through orders and through tenders so that they can start investing in this area even more, including tying up with a lot of the technologies from outside," he said."The volume that we can generate in terms of the size of the orders that can be bigger than the combined turnover of all the other civilian drone manufacturers in the country. That type of ensuring that they have a full order book if they make investments for inter-military grade drones, we will try to ensure by speeding up procurement and by giving them visibility in terms of orders," he Defence Secretary said he would like to see a situation where the maximum time taken for any procurement, even the most complex ones, should not exceed about two years."Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 is a very bulky book. It's a bible for the defence industry. We need to make it simpler. A lot of redundant steps can be avoided. A lot of things can be done concurrently rather than sequentially. And a lot of simplification in terms of the kind of companies that can bid, where we've put in some unnecessary conditionalities, all those have to be removed," he said."So, for that, we have a committee now working. The target date is six months from today. So you'll have a new DAP. It will be DAP-25 rather than DAP-20," he added.
Hindustan Times
31-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
MoD slashes timeline to procure weapons
The government is taking steps to shorten the weapon procurement cycle to accelerate the modernisation of the armed forces, defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said, adding that the timelines have already been cut by more than a year. Speaking at a defence conclave on Friday, Singh said that move will save 'about 69 weeks' and the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, the document that spells out the procurement process, is being revisited to reflect current realities. 'The defence ministry has already, in the year of reforms, slashed the timelines for some of the processes in the procurement cycle. This would save about 69 weeks overall in the process timeline.' 'There is a need to shift away from the traditional nomination-based procurement focused mostly on the public sector to a more competitive pricing model where both the public and private sector can compete for orders,' Singh said. He highlighted that the new approach is 'already being implemented for shipbuilding and recently for the AMCA (advanced medium combat aircraft) project'. The government on May 27 unveiled the plan to fast-track the development of AMCA — an indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter — and announced that the execution model will be competitive and provide equal opportunities to public and private sector firms to participate in the project. The approval of the industry partnership model by defence minister Rajnath Singh came at a critical moment as state-run plane maker Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) — the sole manufacturer of fighter jets in the country — was so far believed to be the front-runner for the project. The model unlocks new possibilities for the local aerospace industry, including firms such as Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Defence and Aerospace and the Mahindra Group. To be sure, HAL is still a strong contender for the project. The defence secretary said, 'Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence is critical not only for preserving the strategic autonomy of the country, but also for achieving the broader goal of Viksit Bharat (developed India).' Measures such as shifting from cost-based pricing to competitive bidding, removing legacy aspects such as product reservation for public sector units and slashing procurement timelines by weeding out rigid and redundant procedures would lead to broadening and diversification of the defence industrial base, he said. The defence ministry has declared 2025 as the year of reforms aimed at transforming the military into a technologically advanced, combat-ready force capable of tackling new challenges. On May 29, the chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh put the spotlight on the armed forces' agonising wait for new weapons and systems, saying he could not recall a single instance of a project being executed on time. 'Timelines are a big issue,' he said, in his first public comments after the May 7-10 military confrontation with Pakistan under Operation Sindoor.
