Ministry of Defence revises procedures for procurement

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Sunday said it has revised Defence Procurement Manual that lays down rules and procedures for sourcing new ammunition, vehicles, small weapons and also consumables like spares besides fuel for existing ships, planes and tanks.

All these expenses come under the ‘revenue’ section of the Ministry of Defence budget. This fiscal, a sum of Rs 1,00,000 crore is allocated to be spent through the ‘revenue’ route. This is separate from the Rs 1,80,000 crore allocated under the ‘capital’ section of the budget this goes to procure items that have a large cost like planes, ships, engine, artillery guns etc.

The MoD today said the new defence procurement manual is a major reform initiative to streamline, simplify, enable and rationalise the revenue procurement process in the Ministry of Defence.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the new manual. He posted on social media platform X saying “In a major thrust to aatmanirbharta, the manual will expedite revenue procurement for the services”.

It would also enable Indian industry, including start-ups and MSMEs, to use simple processes, promote innovation and support enterprise. The issue of ‘working capital’ faced by industries have been eased by providing supportive financing options and relaxing unnecessary penalties.

Research and Development by industry, academia and DPSUs will get boost and will be support with several enabling provisions. Peculiar concerns relating to defence revenue procurement and those relating to level playing field for the industry have been addressed, the Minister said.