Defence Acquisition Procedure:
The Ministry of Defence approved projects that will involve design and development of the military hardware covering light tanks, airborne stand-off jammers, communication equipment and simulators under Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP).
- The defense ministry has cleared nine such projects: four under the ‘Make-I’ and five under the ‘Make-2’ categories of the DAP 2020.
- In the Union Budget 2022, India earmarked Rs 84,598 crore – 68% of the military’s capital acquisition budget — for purchasing locally produced weapons and systems to boost self-reliance in the defence sector, besides setting aside 25% of the defence R&D budget for private industry, startups and academia to encourage them to pursue design and development of military platforms.
Make Category:
- The ‘Make’ category of capital acquisition is the cornerstone of the Make in India initiative that seeks to build indigenous capabilities through the involvement of both public and private sector.
- ‘Make-I’ refers to government-funded projects while ‘Make-II’ covers industry-funded programmes.
- Make-I involved in development of big-ticket platforms such as light tank and communication equipment with Indian security protocols.
- Make-II category involves prototype development of military hardware or its upgrade for import substitution for which no government funding is provided.
- The five projects approved under the industry-funded Make-II procedure are simulators for Apache attacks helicopters and Chinook multi-mission choppers, wearable robotic equipment for aircraft maintenance, autonomous combat vehicle and integrated surveillance and targeting system for mechanised forces.
- Another sub-category under ‘Make’ is ‘Make-III’ that covers military hardware that may not be designed and developed indigenously, but can be manufactured in the country for import substitution, and Indian firms may manufacture these in collaboration with foreign partners.
