Defence ministry to consider proposals worth Rs 20,000 cr

The defence ministry will consider proposals worth over Rs 20,000 crore in a meeting tomorrow to decide on critical equipment such as air defence missiles for the army.

In a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) to be held tomorrow, the Ministry is also expected to take up for discussion proposals for procuring unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and Dornier aircraft for the Air Force, sources said here.

The DAC will also discuss a proposal for dilution of the offsets clause in the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) under which foreign vendors would be allowed to offer Transfer of Technology as offsets.

One of the most significant proposals expected to be discussed at the meeting would be from the army about procurement of eight squadrons of the quick reaction surface to air missiles for the Army Air Defence. In his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Army Chief Gen V K Singh had pointed out that 97% of the equipment in the AAD was obsolete and needed urgent replacements.

After the approval of the DAC, the Defence Ministry would issue a global tender expected to be worth over Rs 10,000 crore for procuring these missiles. The DAC is also expected to discuss Navy projects including proposals related to Project-75 India under which six new submarines are to be procured for the maritime force.

A DRDO proposal related to the LCA Tejas project is also likely to come up for discussion in the meeting. Tomorrow's meeting would be the first for new Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh. The meeting will be chaired by deence mnister A K Antony and attended by defence secretary Shashikant Sharma, the three services chiefs and other concerned stakeholders.