Revised DPP to boost ‘Make in India’ in defence

Hyderabad, November 15

The government would soon come out with a revised defence procurement procedure (DPP) to bolster efforts under ‘Make in India’ campaign and increase engagement of Indian industries in the field of defence manufacturing, a top IAF official has said.

A committee of experts set up to look into all aspects of DPP, which has evolved over the last 13 years, and suggest a policy frame-work for the ‘Make in India’ campaign in defence manufacturing, recently submitted its report, Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal SBP Sinha said here yesterday.

“The committee has proposed various amendments to the defence procurement procedure which will be included in the next revision of DPP that is on the anvil,” he said, delivering the aerospace luminary lecture series hosted by Aeronautical Society of India’s Hyderabad chapter.

He said the revised DPP is expected to bolster the efforts under the ‘Make in India’ campaign and enhance the involvement of Indian industries in aerospace design, development and manufacturing sector.

Air Marshal Sinha, who was speaking on the theme ‘Self Reliance in Aerospace Sector’, also said IAF is eagerly awaiting the induction of indigenously designed, developed and manufactured Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas’, and the formation of the first Tejas squadron is due next year.

“Through a revamp and focused approach, we are now in a position to overcome the few existing shortfalls and manufacture 120 Tejas fighters for the induction in the Indian Air Force,” he said.

To cut down the production cycle time, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is outsourcing manufacture of a large number of parts of Tejas to numerous private sector industries, medium, small and micro enterprises, he said.

“We are also channelising all of R&D resources in development of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) in a time-bound manner with an open mind to seek consultancy where required,” Sinha said. “Aeronautical Development Agency is in the process of evolving a methodology to involve private Indian industries in a big way in the development and manufacture of AMCA,” he said.

To provide adequate time to Indian industries to develop required capabilities, the armed forces will soon come out with a list of technologies of interest, Sinha said, underlining that these efforts are expected to synergise indigenous development of advanced aerospace systems.

He said the IAF has issued Request for Information (RFIs) for procurement of air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface weapons, surface-to-air guided missiles and electronic warfare systems, to industry bodies ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI. — PTI