Why India's Defence Emergency Procurement Period May Get a One-Month Extension

The defence ministry’s Emergency Procurement (EP) procedure period — to quickly get weapon systems, ammunition and other necessary equipment for the armed forces— ended on November 19. Now, another EP period may be necessary to ensure there is time to finish negotiations that were in progress and hadn’t quite been completed on November 19. Highly placed sources said the EP period could be “extended” by a month to “allow the deals that are at the contractual stage to be completed.” This means that there are negotiations going on with various manufacturers for different systems necessary—the purchases can only happen if the EP is extended. Another option is the FTP or Fast Track Purchase system. This process is under discussion and is somewhat

similar to the EP procedure. The positive side of the FTP is that the cap on the amount for each deal is more than Rs 300-400, crore as it is for the EP. In recent years, Emergency Purchases were used after the clashes with Chinese troops in Ladakh and more recently, Operation Sindoor, the counter-terror strike in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. With EPs, there is no RFP or Request for Purchase or even, trials. But the deal is usually for Rs 300-400 crore, which means that only a limited number of weapons can be purchased. Importantly, the weapons come within six months. Also, the EP procedure can also be used during non-military crises. Normal defence deals take longer— sometimes over 2-3 years. Defence Acquisition Council meeting Meanwhile, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh and including the chief of defence staff, General Anil Chauhan, the three service chiefs, the defence secretary and the chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation are readying for the final meeting of the year. The meeting is likely to be on December 26. December 19 was also talked about initially.The DAC decides on the need to buy a system and the earlier the decision is taken, the earlier the contract negotiations begin. In recent months, the vast majority of weapons cleared have been largely or totally indigenous, keeping in mind the government’s aatmanirbharta or self reliance policy. Perhaps, the only major exception is the deal to buy 31 MQ-9B Predator drones from the United States for about $3.5 billion.