The Defence Minister A.K. Antony recently reviewed various issues and proposals relating to acquisition for the Indian Army on capital and revenue accounts. The meeting was attended among others by the Chief of Army Staff General V.K. Singh, the Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, DG Acquisition Vivek Rae and the top brass of Indian Army.

During the meeting Antony directed the Army to streamline its acquisition process in such a manner so that accountability can be fixed in case of any slippages. He also asked the officials of MoD and the Army to examine the possibility of compressing the time taken for technical evaluations and trials. He favoured delegation of more financial powers to Service headquarters if it can lead to speedier acquisition of equipment, platforms and systems for the Services.

Another meeting will be held in May to review the progress made on the decisions taken.

A separate meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) was also held in which the Army Chief as also the Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne were present.

The DAC, the apex body of the Defence Ministry, discussed procurement proposals relating to the three Services, DRDO and the Coast Guard. The DAC also discussed the long-term integrated perspective plan (LTIPP) and changes in the offsets policy under the Defence Procurement Procedure.