Emergency Procurement: Defence ministry sanctions a set of new financial powers

NEW DELHI: As per the Defence sources, the Indian Army is in the process of obtaining the Spike-LR Anti-Tank missiles from Israel and Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence Systems (VSHORAD) from Russia. As the Defence ministry had sanctioned a set of new financial powers for emergency procurements.

"Under the latest emergency financial powers, armed forces have been given a free hand to procure equipment worth up to ₹300 crore on a priority basis. The Request For Proposal (RFP) for the two deals have been issued and negotiations are ongoing," the source said.

Earlier a regular procurement process had been implemented for the tenders of both the deals. The Spike tender was cancelled during the cost negotiation phase, whereas, the deal for Igla is held in the cost negotiation phase after constant delays. However, clarity is needed on the modalities for purchase through the emergency route.

"The deal is currently at the Contract Negotiation phase," the source said.

The Army is looking to procure about 12 launchers and around 250 missiles for each system under the emergency route. Deliveries are said to be completed in three months, but can be extended to six months.

The Spike-LR (Long Range) that is being procured is a different variant from the one that has been tested and shortlisted as part of the earlier procurement for over 8,000 missiles and 300 launchers along with technology transfer. Due to the negotiations regarding the contract had dragged on, the deal was cancelled in the month of January last year and a decision of procuring a smaller number — 170 launchers, 4,500 missiles and 15 simulators — was taken through an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to balance the requirement with an indigenous Man Portable ATGM which is currently under development.

Some defence officials indicated that testing was not required as the missile is operational and in service across the world and that if needed tests would be carried out in Israel.

The deal for VSHORAD, for replacing the legacy of Igla systems in service, which began in 2010 and has encountered several trials and re-trials with three contenders in the fray — MBDA of France, Rosoboronexport of Russia and SAAB of Sweden.

Officials have said that, the emergency procurements were one of the critical procurement and were not related to the acquisitions made through the regular route, in a bid to ensure that these would not impact the regular deals.

In the case of VSHORAD, the other two vendors had registered protests and have written a series of letters to the Defence Ministry on various occasions alleging that the procedural violations which have been favouring the Igla-S have been rejected.