Indian MoD Clears Procurement worth $8.8B

India’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, cleared defence procurement proposals worth about INR 79,000 crore ($8.78 billion) through Acceptance of Necessity approvals on Monday.

Acceptance of Necessity marks the first formal step in India’s defence procurement process and allows the services to proceed with detailed acquisition procedures under applicable rules.

For the Indian Army, the DAC approved procurement of loiter munition systems for artillery regiments, low level lightweight radars, long-range guided rocket ammunition for the Pinaka multiple launch rocket system, and the Integrated Drone Detection and Interdiction System Mk-II. The ministry said the systems are intended to support precision strikes, improve detection of low-flying unmanned aerial systems, extend the effective range of rocket artillery, and protect military assets in both forward areas and hinterland locations.

The Indian Navy received approval for the acquisition of bollard pull tugs, high-frequency software-defined radio manpack systems, and the leasing of high-altitude long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft. Tugs are meant to support ship and submarine movement in harbours, the radios to support secure long-range communications during operations, and the aircraft to support intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance across the Indian Ocean Region.

For the Indian Air Force, the DAC cleared proposals covering automatic take-off and landing recording systems, Astra Mk-II air-to-air missiles, full mission simulators for the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, and SPICE-1000 long-range guidance kits. These systems improve flight safety monitoring, extending air combat engagement ranges, strengthening pilot training, and enabling precision strikes from longer distances.