Solution

•     The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), the first step in the procurement process, for proposals worth ₹84,560 crore. •     The proposals include some long-pending deals — such as for heavy weight torpedoes (HWT) for the Navy’s Scorpene-class submarines and flight refueller aircraft (FRA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) — beginning afresh. •     Other major deals include medium range maritime reconnaissance and multi-mission maritime aircraft for the Navy and the Coast Guard, new generation anti-tank mines, air defence tactical control radar, and software-defined radios. •     The procurement of a new generation of anti-tank mines having seismic sensors and the provision of remote deactivation with additional safety features has been approved under Buy (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured category of Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020. •     The DAC has approved amendments in the DAP 2020 with respect to benchmarking and cost computation, payment schedule and procurement quantity.