Startups-MSMEs to produce Rs.380.43cr iDEX items for Armed Forces
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), in its meeting of 22nd March 2022, accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for Rs.8,357 crore Capital Acquisition proposals of the Armed Forces.
As an impetus to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, all of these proposals have been approved under ‘Buy (Indian IDDM)’ category with focus on indigenous design & development and manufacturing in India, Ministry of Defence said on 22 Mar 2022.
AoNs accorded by DAC include procurement of Night Sight (Image Intensifier), Light Vehicles GS 4X4, Air Defence Fire Control Radar (Light) and GSAT 7B Satellite. Acquisition of these equipment and systems will enhance operational preparedness of Armed Forces by providing better visibility, enhanced mobility, improved communication and increased capability of detecting enemy aircraft.
To accelerate the pace of indigenisation, achieve self-reliance in defence and to facilitate Ease of Doing Business for defence industry, DAC has approved the following policy initiatives in the DAP-2020:
All modernisation requirements of defence forces to be indigenously sourced and import to be resorted to only as exception.
To reduce financial burden on defence industry, requirement of IPBG is to be dispensed with and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) to be introduced as bid security and PCIP cover up to contract stage.
EMD will be applicable only for proposals of Rs.100 crore and above and MSMEs and Startups will be exempted from EMD.
In a path-breaking initiative, Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) also cleared the procurement of 14 items worth Rs.380.43 crore from the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) startups and MSMEs. These items will be procured by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.
The DAC also approved the new simplified procedure for procurement from iDEX startups and MSMEs. This would fast-track the procurement from the startups and MSMEs.
The procurement cycle from the AON to contract signing will be around 22 weeks as per the new procedure. Suitable incorporation will be made in the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2022.
The DAC also approved the simplified procedure for Make-II category projects on similar lines of iDEX procedure and would considerably bring down the time taken from prototype development to Contract signing in Make-II projects.
The iDEX scheme, since its initiative in 2018, has now gathered momentum, and it is expected that around 25-40 items after the successful prototyping by the iDEX startups and MSMEs, will be ready for procurement by this year end.
The scheme has been instituted under the over-arching mission of the MoD to achieve self-reliance and indigenisation. The iDEX is catalysing the vibrant energy of our startup eco-system and is today steering trans-disciplinary innovations and projects.
An enterprising network of experts from the Services, DPSUs, Industry, Academia, iDEX officials and the startups as well as MSMEs are involved in the process of co-creation and co-innovation. The aim is to provide at least 50 world-class solutions to the Armed Forces and the defence industry in the near future.
The iDEX is scaling up at a breakneck pace to support more and more innovators and startups. The iDEX startups and MSMEs are now entering the next phase, i.e., productionisation and commercialisation. This will indeed lead to the broad-basing of the defence industrial base, said the Ministry. fiinews.com
