Revised Defence Procurement Manual expected shortly

Kolkata: The revised Defence Procurement Manual, which is expected shortly, will likely incorporate "long term support agreement" in the indigenisation project, an army official said here on Tuesday.

"The Defence Procurement Manual is under revision and the revised manual is expected to be released shortly. This will have many provisions which have been amended to make it easier for industries to take part in the defence manufacturing process," said Brig. Ratan Kumar, Deputy Director General, EM (B), MGO Branch.

Master General of Ordinance (MGO) Branch of the Indian Army is responsible for the operational readiness of the Army's vast array of weapon systems, vehicles, and equipment.

The industries will be facilitated under the revised manual so that they could take part in the indigenisation projects, he said, and added that the revised manual has been trying to address the concerns of the industries.

The industries' main concerns have been the assurance of orders, once they have set up the infrastructure for defence manufacturing, he said on the sidelines of RamicomEast organised jointly by MGO Branch and CII.

According to the army official, such concerns would be addressed in a certain manner wherein long-term support agreement (LTSA) in certain cases is expected to be incorporated in the revised manual.

"The arrangement for LTSA would likely be made in the indigenisation projects in the revised defence procurement manual. Such arrangement which was earlier absent is actively being considered," he said.

Overall in the defence, the indigenisation is currently at 40 per cent and over the next five years, the government agenda is to take the indigenisation up to 60 per cent. The government also wished to take the indigenisation components to 70 per cent in the next 10 years.

The import content is higher in Navy and Air Force while the same for the Army is comparatively less, the official said.