India's Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Monday cleared capital acquisition proposals worth about Rs 2.12 lakh crore for the Army, Navy and Air Force, in one of the largest single rounds of in-principle defence approvals in recent years. The council, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to the proposals, with nearly 82 per cent of the total value expected to be sourced from Indian industry.

Acceptance of Necessity is the first formal stage of India's defence procurement process. It records the armed forces' requirement in principle; contracts, prices and delivery schedules are decided only after requests for proposals, trials and negotiations. The emphasis on domestic sourcing is in line with the government's push for self-reliance in defence manufacturing, which Mr Singh has described as the next phase of the Aatmanirbharta drive, linking startups and academia with the operational needs of the forces.

For the Army, the approvals cover high-mobility vehicles, self-propelled tracked gun systems, gun shot response systems, light multi-role helicopters, very short-range air defence systems (VSHORADS), platform-based counter-drone systems, surveillance UAVs, an integrated surveillance and strike system, and a long-range kamikaze drone system. Officials said the high-mobility vehicles will improve logistics and movement in difficult terrain, while the gun shot response system will give commanders real-time awareness of firing incidents.

A major item in the package is a proposal worth about Rs 20,000 crore for 200 light multi-role helicopters for the Army and Air Force, partly replacing the ageing fleet of around 400 Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. The helicopters are to be built in India with Indian companies in the lead, and the Defence Ministry intends to split the order between the winning bidder and the runner-up. Tata Advanced Systems with Airbus, the Adani Group with Leonardo, and Bell Helicopters of the United States are among the companies expected to compete.

The Navy's approvals include the Active Offboard Decoy System, which creates false targets to protect ships against modern anti-ship missiles, along with other major indigenous naval platforms. The Air Force will receive helicopters, air defence systems and weapons, as well as mobile X-band Doppler weather radar systems to improve weather monitoring in forward areas.

The package reflects the growing weight of drones, counter-drone systems and surveillance in modern warfare, and comes amid a broader modernisation drive in which earlier DAC rounds this year also cleared large tranches of equipment. Defence manufacturers now await the next stages of the process, when the in-principle approvals are converted into tenders and, eventually, signed contracts.