Def Procurement Procedure Review Before Time, if Required: Antony

New Delhi, Nov 17 (UNI) The Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)and the Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) 2006 would be further reviewed -- based on experience gained from implementation -- to make them ''even more responsive and effective instruments for meeting the requirements of the Armed Forces by observing highest standards of transparency and probity'', Defence Minister AK Antony today said.

''If we feel that there is an urgent need for review, we will not wait for two years... Our effort will be to make the procedures foolproof and to avoid any scope for corruption....'' Procurement procedures are normally reviewed every two years.

Minister Antony was addressing a meeting here of the Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry.

Giving a broad overview of DPP-2006 and DPM-2006, the Minister said the acquisition of defence equipment was a complex and intricate process. ''It is long, deliberate and arduous... Each step in this process is to be taken with care with the objective of maintaining transparency and probity and for ensuring that the country gets the best value for money....'' Describing DPP-2006 and DPM-2006 as part of the policy reforms -- initiated by the Defence Ministry in 2002, Minister Antony listed some of the important features of the Procedures. He said henceforth all major decisions pertaining to procurement process would be taken simultaneously by the Defence Acquisition Council for reducing the time frame for acquisition.

Enhanced transparency had also been ensured by placing the generic requirements of the services on the Defence Ministry website and generating vendor registration through internet.

Mr Antony said measures had also been taken for increased transparency in the conduct of field trials. Other important features included incorporation of integrity pact for all contracts above Rs 100 crore, an offset obligation for all contracts above Rs 300 crore and Transfer of Technology for maintenance of infrastructure to an Indian public/private firm for providing product support.

During the discussion, the Committee Members of Parliament paid glowing tributes to the Armed Forces for their dedication to protecting the country's borders and asserted that the soldiers must get ''the best of equipment''.

They asked the Government to put in place a suitable mechanism so that corruption in defence deals did not take place. Some members were also of the view that in the changing global and national scenario, the private sector should be encouraged to participate in the production of defence equipment in a bigger way.

Further, they asked the Government to improve the security system on an urgent basis so that incidents such as the Naval War Room Leak case did not recur.

Members who attended the meeting were Dr Karan Singh, Messrs K Janakrishna Murthy, Santosh Bagrodia, Syed Azees Pasha, Naveen Jindal, Samik Lahiri, Kailash Nath Singh Yadav, A Shivajirao Patil, Braja Kishore Tripathy, Shankhlal Majhi and Mrs Jayaben B Thakkar.

Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju, Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt, Secretary Defence Research and Development M Natrajan, Director General Acquisition S Banerjee, and Secretary Defence Finance Vinod Kumar Mishra besides various senior civil and military officials also attended the meeting.

UNI DG VD BD1812