DAC Clears Rs 2.12 Lakh Cr of Defence Buys for Armed Forces

October 30, 2026October 30, 2026

DAC cleared Rs 2.12 lakh crore of defense purchases on 26 October for the tri-services, with 82% set for Indian industry.

Chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the council is the ministry’s top body for clearing big purchases.

It gave an Acceptance of Necessity, or AoN, to the proposals. In plain terms, that is a green light in principle.

Think of it as the shopping list being signed off before anyone goes to the market. It is not a contract, and it does not name a supplier.

Around Rs 1.74 lakh crore of the total, or 82%, is meant to come from Indian manufacturers. The balance, roughly 18%, would come from overseas suppliers.

For the Army, the list covers high-mobility vehicles, tracked self-propelled guns, light multi-role helicopters, short-range air defence systems, counter-drone systems, surveillance drones and long-range kamikaze drones.

The last are drones built to crash into a target. Three of the seven Army items involve drones.

The Navy gets an active offboard decoy system, meant to protect ships from modern anti-ship missiles, along with major indigenous naval platforms.

Indigenous simply means built in India. The Air Force list includes special utility helicopters, air defence systems, weapons and a mobile weather radar for forward areas.

In September, the council had cleared proposals worth about Rs 1.1 lakh crore.

The latest package is nearly double that. Each round widens the list of equipment the forces plan to buy.

The defence ministry now has to turn each approved item into a formal tender, pick suppliers and sign contracts.

Typically, the process runs through a request for proposals, bid evaluation and then a contract award.

Until that happens, the approvals do not add to any company’s order book.

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