New Delhi: Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman has enhanced the financial powers of the three vice-chiefs of the armed forces by five times, giving a boost to the procurement of arms and ammunition and upgrade of defence preparedness.
In March, the ministry had vested the vice-chiefs with additional powers to carry out specific procurements to ensure operational preparedness.
“The ministry has enhanced the financial powers of the three vice-chiefs from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore, thus effecting a five-time increase for augmenting procurement of arms and ammunition and upgrade of defence preparedness,” Defence ministry spokesperson Aman Anand told reporters on Thursday.
Thursday’s move is one in a series of measures to be taken by the defence ministry in the recent months to simplify and streamline procedures and decentralise decision-making for procurement of defence hardware through the delegation of powers.