The Defence Acquisition Council cleared proposals worth Rs 84,560 crore on Friday to boost the capabilities of the armed forces and the Indian Coast Guard.
The proposals include air defence tactical control radar, heavyweight torpedoes, medium-range maritime reconnaissance and multi-mission maritime aircraft, flight refueller aircraft and software-defined radios, according to a release by the Ministry of Defence issued on Friday.
The DAC also accorded an acceptance of necessity under the Buy Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured category for the procurement of a new generation of anti-tank mines with seismic sensors and the provision of remote deactivation with additional safety features, it said.
The amendments in the Defence Acquisition Procedure, 2020, were also cleared to promote procurement of advanced technologies from startups and micro, small and medium enterprises under the Innovations for Defence Excellence and Technology Development Fund schemes, according to the release.
"These steps will provide a much-needed incentive to startups and MSMEs and promote ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in India," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh posted on X after chairing the DAC meeting.
The announcement comes on the heels of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting the interim Union budget, which had an outlay of Rs 6.21 lakh crore for the defence sector in the next financial year, an increase of 4.7% year-on-year. Out of this, Rs 1.72 lakh crore was allocated for capital acquisition. The budget for the armed forces for revenue expenditure, barring salaries, stood at Rs 92,088 crore.
In a post-budget interview with NDTV Profit, Sitharaman said the government was making provisions to fund innovative defence production in line with the self-reliant India goal and to make up for alleged neglect in the last three decades.
"Funding for science and technological research was scattered earlier," she told NDTV Profit's Sanjay Pugalia in an exclusive interview—her first for a private news network after the interim budget.
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