Defence Acquisition Council clears procurement of 14 items worth over Rs 380 crore from iDEX startups/MSMEs for Armed Forces

Simplified procedure for Make-II category projects also gets nod to bring downtime taken from prototype development to contract signing.

In a path-breaking initiative, Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh, on March 22, 2022, cleared the procurement of 14 items worth Rs 380.43 crore from the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) startups/MSMEs. The Indian Army, Navy and Air Force will procure these items.

The DAC also approved the new simplified procedure for procurement from iDEX startups/MSMEs. This would fast-track the procurement from the startups/MSMEs. The procurement cycle from the AON to contract signing 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.

The iDEX, a game-changer in the Defence eco-system, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018 to foster innovation and incorporate cutting-edge and disruptive technologies in the Armed Forces in a quick time frame. The iDEX scheme, since its initiation in 2018, has now gathered momentum, and it is expected that around 25-40 items after the successful prototyping by the iDEX startups/MSMEs will be ready for procurement by this year-end.       

The iDEX scheme has been instituted under the over-arching mission of the MoD to achieve self-reliance and indigenisation. The iDEX is catalysing the vibrant energy of our startup ecosystem and is today steering trans-disciplinary innovations/projects. An enterprising network of experts from the Services, DPSUs, Industry, Academia, iDEX officials and the startups/MSMEs are involved in the process of co-creation and co-innovation. The aim is to provide at least 50 world-class solutions to the Armed Forces and the defence industry in the near future.

The five editions of DISC and the various Open Challenges have been a huge success and have witnessed tremendous interest and participation from the startups/MSMEs. The iDEX is scaling up at a breakneck pace to support more and more innovators and startups. The iDEX startups/MSMEs are now entering the next phase, i.e., product ionisation and commercialisation. This will indeed lead to the broad-basing of the defence industrial base. (PIB)