About Defence Acquisition Council (DAC):
- It is the highest decision-making body of India's Ministry of Defence on procurement.
- Main Objective: To ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the armed forces in terms of capabilities sought and time frame prescribed by optimally utilizing the allocated budgetary resources.
- Formation: It was formed after the Group of Minister’s recommendations on ‘Reforming the National Security System’, in 2001, post-Kargil War (1999).
- Composition:
- The Defence Minister is the chairman of DAC.
- Its members include senior civil and military leaders of the Ministry of Defence, among them the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; the Defence Secretary; and other senior officials responsible for finance, production, and acquisition.
- Functions:
- Give in-principle approval to long-term perspective planning, as applicable under the current framework.
- Categorisation of the acquisition proposals relating to ‘Buy’, ‘Buy & Make’, and ‘Make’.
- Look into issues relating to single vendor clearance.
- Take decisions regarding the Transfer of Technology under the ‘Buy & Make’ category of acquisition proposals.
- Field trial evaluation.
- The categorisation decisions taken by the DAC are especially significant, because they influence whether contracts flow to Indian designers and manufacturers or to foreign suppliers.
- Through its approvals, the DAC effectively sets the direction of India's military modernisation.
