Amit Cowshish replies: The standard format of Request for Proposal (RfP) given in the Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 (DAP 2020) includes the Fall Clause. This clause requires the bidders to submit a written undertaking as a part of the technical offer that they have not supplied, or are not supplying, similar systems or subsystems at a price lower than that offered in the present bid to any other ministry or department of the Government of India.
The GFR 2017 permit individual ministries to issue detailed instructions to address the needs and complexities of procurement carried out by them. The question is whether those principles and rules come in the way of the Ministry of Defence evolving a more efficient procurement procedure that meets the armed forces’ aspirations.
If existing procurement procedures are a hindrance in acquiring state-of-the-art defence materiel expeditiously, a case needs to be made out, based on demonstrable drawbacks of the existing system for a detailed blueprint of what system should replace it.
The Ministry of Defence has taken significant steps in recent times to boost domestic defence manufacturing and increase the role of the private sector to reduce dependence on imports and achieve self-reliance.
The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2020), which supersedes the Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 (DPP 2016), is a sincere effort by the Ministry of Defence to improve the capital procurement procedure.
The OCPP is a mix of revenue and capital procurement procedures, based on the Defence Procurement Manual 2006. It could have been an opportunity to lay down a more self-contained procedure.
Kishore Kumar Khera replies: A contract for procurement of 62 C295 aircraft is under consideration for replacement of 56 HS748 Avro for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the balance six aircraft for the Indian Coast Guard. Of these, 16 aircraft are to be built by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and the balance aircraft will be manufactured in India. To facilitate aircraft manufacturing in India, certain Transfer of technology (ToT) is inevitable.
The changes proposed in the offset guidelines require a fresh look, both on conceptual and empirical grounds, as the new regime is likely to yield diminishing returns.
The draft offset guidelines 2020, with revamped features, is a bold attempt at attracting technology and investment as well as promoting defence exports. However, the MoD may consider further refining some of the features of the revised guidelines.
Public Procurement Framework in India
The GFR 2017 permit individual ministries to issue detailed instructions to address the needs and complexities of procurement carried out by them. The question is whether those principles and rules come in the way of the Ministry of Defence evolving a more efficient procurement procedure that meets the armed forces’ aspirations.