Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a new Defence Research & Development Organisation Procurement Manual (PM) 2020 to encourage more participation by the industry, including startups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), in research and development and to achieve the objective of self reliance in defence.
“The new DRDO PM-2020 will facilitate the indigenous defence industry by simplifying the processes and ensure their participation in design and development activities,” Mr. Singh said after the release. It would contribute towards realising the objective of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,’ he said. The DRDO PM was last modified in 2016.
Bid security declaration option for earnest money deposit, increase of threshold limit for advance payment, placement of order on lowest bidder 2 (L2) in case L1 (lowest bidder) backs out are some of the salient features of the new manual, which will assist the industry in speedy execution of projects, a DRDO statement said.
The PM-2020 also exempts bid security and performance security up to ₹10 lakh and does away with the requirement for negotiations for commercial off-the-shelf items or services wherever price discovery is happening through market forces. In addition, performance security for service contracts is linked to the payment cycle, instead of total contract value.
Many of the internal procedures have been further simplified for faster engagement with the industry, DRDO added.