DAP 2026 Focuses on Faster Acquisition, Indian IPR and Industrial Depth

The Ministry of Defence has placed the Draft Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2026 in the public domain for consultation, signalling the next phase of procurement reform.
In a freewheeling chat with BharatShakti’s Editor-in-Chief, Nitin Gokhale, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh outlined the vision behind the proposed changes and the government’s broader approach to modernisation, self-reliance and industrial capacity building.

At the centre of the revision, Singh said, is a practical objective: reduce delays in acquisition without diluting due process.

“The real compression has to happen in the preparation of RFP (Request for Proposal) formulation, field evaluation trials (FAT) and cost negotiations,” he noted. “These are the stages where the maximum time gets consumed.”

While defence contract signings have doubled the previous records, with two lakh 30,000–40,000 crore worth of signings targeted this year, beating last year’s two lakh nine thousand crores, he stressed that acceleration must be institutionalised rather than driven by ad hoc pressure. He personally reviews acquisition progress every week. “I don’t want any money to be surrendered,” he said, referring to the Ministry’s effort to utilise allocated funds fully.

That spending discipline has contributed to a nearly 24 per cent increase in the modernisation budget this year, significantly higher than the initially discussed 10 per cent. A committee headed by Singh documented capability gaps, particularly in the Indian Air Force, where fighters, AWACS and aerial refuellers have been identified as priorities.

“Money alone will not solve procedural delays,” he cautioned, adding that DAP 2026 seeks to address structural bottlenecks.

Mainstreaming Fast-Track Procurement

One major change under consideration is recalibrating fast-track procurement. The earlier one-year completion requirement proved unrealistic in many cases. The draft now proposes a two-year framework and seeks to make fast-track procedures more usable for technologies with short life cycles.

“If you take three years to procure, the technology may change before induction,” Singh observed, citing the pace of drone and electronic warfare innovation in recent conflicts, including Ukraine.

The focus is on enabling quicker testing and induction of rapidly evolving systems while retaining accountability.

To support this, the Ministry is examining greater use of simulation, digital validation, and database-backed evaluation to reduce extended trial cycles, particularly hot-weather, cold-weather, and high-altitude testing that can stretch timelines.

IDDM, Indian Design and IPR Weightage

A central theme of DAP 2026 is strengthening indigenous design and intellectual property ownership.

Asked whether the Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) category has delivered the desired outcomes, Singh acknowledged mixed results. “Some of the big contracts have come only in the last few years,” he said.

To reinforce the incentive structure, the draft proposes at least a 10 per cent weightage for Indian design and intellectual property ownership in the evaluation. “If a system has been designed and developed in India, that must reflect in the scoring”, he said.

The intention is to move beyond assembly in India toward design control, software ownership and upgrade autonomy.

Programmes such as the LCA, LCH, ATAGS artillery system and the Close Quarter Carbine reflect varying degrees of indigenous development. The Defence Secretary indicated that sustaining such programmes requires predictable order flows rather than fragmented procurement.

Order Visibility and Spiral Development

One recurring concern raised by industry is the lack of long-term demand visibility. Singh acknowledged that fragmented orders in the past made it difficult for companies to invest in supply chains and manpower.

The revised framework aims to provide greater clarity, including the possibility of structured repeat orders over a multi-year window, without creating perpetual monopolies.

He also referred to the concept of spiral development, committing to scale while allowing capability to mature progressively. The LCA programme, with 180 aircraft already ordered across variants, reflects this approach.

“When you place orders at scale, capability improves over time,” Singh said, suggesting that volume itself helps stabilise ecosystems and drive refinement.

Ammunition Procurement Reform

A less visible but significant reform relates to ammunition procurement. Although private sector participation was opened nearly a decade ago, a provision in earlier guidelines effectively restricted procurement if similar products were available from government entities. That clause has now been removed. “That is a major step,” Singh said.

He expects several serious private players to emerge in the ammunition and explosives manufacturing sector, an area whose operational importance has been underscored in recent conflicts. The objective is not to displace public sector entities but to broaden the manufacturing base.

The result is already visible: companies such as Solar, Adani, Premier Explosives and others are expanding into military explosives and precision munitions. He expects four or five serious private players to emerge in this strategically critical domain, particularly given the operational importance of precision munitions demonstrated in recent conflicts.

Strategic Partnerships and Industrial Specialisation

On the question of whether India should designate specific “national champions” in different defence domains, Singh indicated that the Ministry is not formally assigning sectors to individual companies. However, he acknowledged that scale and specialisation are necessary for global competitiveness.

Technical evaluation matrices, such as those used in major aerospace and submarine programmes,  assess engineering depth, infrastructure, manpower and capital equipment in detail. Over time, the Defence Secretary expects capable anchor firms to emerge organically in specific domains, including aerospace, shipbuilding and ammunition.

Shipbuilding, he noted, already benefits from relatively stable long-term pipelines, with dozens of vessels under construction.

Commercial Off-the-Shelf and GFR Alignment

DAP 2026 is being aligned with the revised Defence Procurement Manual and General Financial Rules. Singh stressed the importance of pragmatism in areas where commercial solutions exist.

“If something is available commercially, we should not be reinventing it,” he said, citing cybersecurity and certain subsystems as examples.

The approach seeks to focus indigenous effort on core technologies while leveraging available market solutions where appropriate.

Infrastructure and Operational Preparedness

Procurement reform is occurring alongside a push to strengthen border infrastructure. The Border Roads Organisation has been tasked with building up to the last mile in challenging terrain, including remote and Left Wing Extremism-affected areas.

Executing agencies have been given greater financial delegation and flexibility in equipment procurement to compensate for short working seasons in high-altitude regions.

Exports and Industry Engagement

Singh described his engagement with industry as continuous and open. Public sector undertakings, private firms and start-ups have all been consulted during the DAP revision process.

Exports, he said, are a critical measure of competitiveness. The government’s role includes streamlining export licensing, improving the ease of doing business and facilitating technology transfer from DRDO. He noted that the private sector accounts for a disproportionately high share of defence exports relative to its share of domestic production.

The long-term objective is a balanced ecosystem in which both public and private sectors contribute meaningfully to domestic supply and global markets.

Team BharatShakti