The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) Tuesday approved capital acquisition proposals to the tune of Rs 13,700 crore for various requirements of the Indian armed forces.

These acquisitions would include weapons, platforms, equipment and systems for the Army, Air Force and the Navy, a statement from the Ministry of Defence said.

“Three Acceptance of Necessities (AoNs) for an overall cost of Rs 13,700 crore were accorded. All these AoNs are in the highest priority category of Defence Acquisition,” the statement said.

All these acquisition proposals, the ministry said, will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured. These will include platforms and systems designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

“To meet the Atmanirbhar Bharat goals of the government on time-bound defence procurement process and faster decision making and to systematically work towards reducing the time taken for capital acquisition, the DAC also approved that all capital acquisition contracts (delegated and non-delegated) other than D&D cases shall be concluded in two years. The Ministry, in consultation with the Services and all stakeholders, will come up with detailed plan of action for achieving the same,” the statement said.

Pushing for self-reliance in defence sector, PM Narendra Modi had on Monday said the government had taken steps to move forward in the sector with “transparency, predictability and ease of doing business”. He said the government has taken steps to bring about de-licensing, de-regulation, export promotion, foreign investment liberalisation, etc.

The Prime Minister had said this while delivering the keynote address at a ‘Webinar on Budget Announcements 2021-22: Galvanising Efforts for Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

The Webinar was also addressed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who said the government was actively promoting not only domestic manufacturing but also an export-oriented defence industry.

Singh listed out the number of initiatives taken by the government to promote domestic defence manufacturing. He shed light on the plans to spend $130 billion on military modernisation in the next five years.