Defence Minister appoints panel to expedite capital acquisition for armed forces modernisation

To expedite capital acquisitions to bolster armed forces preparedness, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has constituted a 13-member Raksha Mantri Advisory Committee on Ministry of Defence Capital Projects (RMCOMP).

As per the Defence Ministry, under the terms of reference of the committee, it has to undertake an independent review and check the status of ongoing critical projects worth more than Rs 500 crore.

The committee will present an initial status report on the identified projects to the Defence Minister by March 31, 2018. The report shall include, apart from the current status of the projects, issues, remedial measures and follow-up strategy.

The committee will be headed by Vinay Sheel Oberoi, a former secretary in the government and the committee will have tenure untill the end of August 2018.

The terms of reference for the committee are

1.To undertake independent review and status check of identified ongoing critical capital projects above Rs. 500 crore including ‘Mission Mode’ projects, ‘Make’ projects, ‘Buy (Indian), ‘Buy (Indian – IDDM), ‘Buy and Make’ and ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ projects as well as ‘Design and Development’ projects under the Ministry.
2.Assess the financial and physical progress of these projects/ schemes.
3.Identify specific issues and bottlenecks that are responsible for delays, and suggest the way forward.
4.Any other issues related to project monitoring and appraisal that may be referred by Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The committee will have tenure until the end of August 2018. The committee will have to

• Present an initial status report on the identified projects to Defence Minister by 31st March 2018. The report shall include apart from the current status of the projects, issues, remedial measures and follow-up strategy.
• Based on the decisions on the status report, submit two follow-up corrective Action Taken Reports by 30th April 2018 and 31st July 2018, respectively.
• Suggest modern management concepts that can be leveraged to reduce delays.
• Suggest actionable measures to improve the capital acquisition process/procedures.

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