For the first time, the Defence Acquisition Council has cleared the procurement of 14 items worth Rs 380.43 crore from Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) startups. These items will be procured by the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.

In a meeting presided by Defence minister Rajnath Singh Tuesday, the DAC also approved a new, simplified procedure to fasttrack procurement from iDEX startups and MSMEs.

“The procurement cycle…. 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,” said a statement from the Ministry Tuesday.

It is expected that around 25-40 items, after the successful prototyping by the iDEX startups, will be ready for procurement by the year’s end

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, the iDEX programme was incepted to foster innovation and incorporate cutting-edge technology in the Armed Forces within a swift time frame.

It is expected that around 25-40 items, after the successful prototyping by the iDEX startups, will be ready for procurement by the year’s end.

On Tuesday, the DAC also accorded Acceptance of Necessity(AoN) for Capital Acquisition proposals for the Armed Forces amounting to Rs 8,357 crore.

The DAC said modernisation requirements of the defence forces are to be indigenously sourced and import should be resorted to only as an exception.