Defence Minister approves procurement of 1,000 engines for T-72 tanks

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday accorded approval for procurement of 1,000 engines for T-72 tanks that would improve the tanks agility and acceleration.

The engines of 1,000 bhp each would be procured under "Buy and Make" category at a cost of around Rs 2,300 crore.

"The engines will enhance mobility, agility, and acceleration of T-72 tanks making them more versatile and effective in the battlefield," an official release said.

Post-transfer of technology most of these engines will be manufactured by Ordnance Factories Board (OFB).

The DAC also discussed and approved several amendments to the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 -- the manual governing the defense procurements - in order to reduce time in defense procurements and streamline procurement procedures.

The significant changes include limiting the time period for executing Repeat Order to five years after the date of completion of warranty of final delivery in the previous contract.

Repeat Order provisions have also been extended to procurements by other services like the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

The amendments also include permissions to commence with benchmarking of cost for equipment immediately on receipt of the trial report in the Service headquarter.