The new Defence Procurement Procedure will be ready soon, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Friday, and it will have clear categorisation to make a shift towards indigenous equipment.The minister made the announcement at a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the defence ministry, according to an official statement.Parrikar said the ministry would "soon be coming out with a new Defence Procurement Procedure as well as the Defence Procurement Manual, 2016."He said the current Defence Procurement Procedure was to be amended and being considered by his ministry after a committee of experts headed by Dhirendra Singh submitted its report. The committee was to evolve a policy framework to facilitate 'Make in India' in defence manufacturing, align the policy evolved with DPP-2013, and suggest requisite amendments in DPP-2013 to remove bottlenecks in the procurement process.
"The Defence Procurement Manual is under the process of internal vetting and is expected to be finalised by end June, 2016."The statement said the categorisation committees, while considering categorisation of all capital acquisition under the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP), follow a preferred order of categorisation, and 'Buy Indian' tops the list.It is followed by Buy and Make Indian, Make, Buy and Make and Buy Global."This hierarchy of categorisation clearly marks a shift towards indigenous equipment," the statement said."Department of Defence Production with its OFs and DPSUs has been a major instrument to foster Indigenisation. However, over the last few decades, provisions such as 'Make' and 'Buy-and-Make Indian' categories have been introduced to facilitate the participation of the private sector in defence production."
Taking part in the discussion, members of parliament who are on the committee suggested that the government should give incentives under the 'Buy Indian' and 'Buy and Make Indian' categories.They also said that PSUs should also be allowed to bid for 'Buy Indian' category and that offsets should be in terms of overall requirements of users.Among the MPs who attended the meeting were Pinaki Mishra, Saugata Roy, A. Seetaram Naik, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Mahendra Prasad, T.K. Rangarajan, Bhupender Yadav, and Samsher Singh Manhas.Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar, Defence Production Secretary Ashok Kumar Gupta, DG, DRDO chief S. Christopher and other senior officials also attended the meeting.