India to make defence requirements open, barring sensitive areas

New Delhi, Aug 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) In an attempt to make defence procurement more transparent, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal to publish all relevant details on the ministry's website, barring those which are sensitive, a statement said on Friday.

The defence industry has regularly pitched for providing greater access to the details of procurements planned by the Defence Ministry, especially with regard to cost, quantity, offsets, trials, transfer of technology and others which are being envisaged at the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) stage.

To promote 'Ease of Doing Business' and provide more transparency in capital acquisition process, and aligning with the aspirations of industry, the Minister has approved a proposal mandating the service headquarters to publish the relevant details on the their and the ministry websites, within one week of receipt of approvals.

"The details shared will be subject to sensitivities keeping the security aspect in mind," the ministry statement said.

This is an important step towards greater transparency and nformation symmetry and will provide an opportunity to the additional vendors, who did not respond to the Request for Information but wish to express interest for receipt of Request for Proposal and submission of bid, it said.

This timely visibility will enable the industry to plan technology tie-ups with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), initiate the process to set up production lines, and augment production capacity in anticipation of the orders likely to be placed.

Source: IANS