Ministry of Defence releases draft Defence Acquisition Procedure 2026

Ministry of Defence recently released the draft of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2026, seeking suggestions and comments from all stakeholders. The draft DAP 2026 seeks to replace the DAP 2020, which is in vogue now. The Defence Acquisition Procedure serves as the foundational framework for capital acquisitions undertaken by the Ministry of Defence. Its primary objective is to propel Jointness, Atmanirbharta & Integration, Force Modernisation, and Speed of acquisition with scaling of production, leading to the growth and development of the defence ecosystem in the country. The proposed draft aims to align India’s defence acquisition with the rapidly evolving geo-strategic landscape, growth of Indian economy, skilling of human capital, growth of private defence industry in the country and the technological imperatives of modern warfare.The new policy shifts India’s focus from “Made in India” to “Owned by India”, emphasising domestic Intellectual Property (IP), design authority, and source code access.  The draft is currently open for public feedback on the Ministry of Defence website until March 3, 2026.

Major Changes Proposed in DAP 2026 as Compared to DAP 2020

Key Structural & Indigenous Reforms

¨     Increased Indigenous Content (IC): The IC requirement for the Buy Indian–IDDM (Indian Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured) category has been raised from 50% to 60%.

¨     Category Simplification: The number of procurement categories has been reduced from five to four to streamline the acquisition framework.

¨     Mandatory Design Definition: For the first time, “Indigenous Design” is clearly defined to ensure genuine domestic development and prevent rebranding of foreign tech.

¨     Technology Readiness Level (TRL): A new TRL-based categorisation system has been introduced to better align procurement with product maturity.

¨     Involvement of Subject Experts: The draft also proposes involving subject experts in the finalisation of Services Qualitative Requirements (SQRs) and in the oversight of trials.

Speed and Simplification Measures

New Procurement Routes

¨     Low-Cost Capital Acquisition (LCCA): A new category called LCCA has been introduced for the acquisition of equipment from Indian vendors for trial and evaluation before inducting it in bulk.

¨     Long-Term Bulk Acquisition (LTBA): A LTBA procedure has also been introduced for the acquisition of capital-intensive, hi-tech and complex equipment, systems, platforms and ammunition, from Indian and foreign sources over a long term and in multiple tranches, with provisions for progressive indigenisation and upgrades.

Refined Trial Processes

¨     Two-stage trials and Quality Assurance (QA) trial options have been introduced to expedite timelines.

¨     Compensation for Trial-Qualified Vendors: All vendors who successfully qualify in trials will now receive compensation for trial costs.

¨     Fast Track Procedure (FTP): Refined with downward delegation of powers for procurement involving emerging technologies with shorter development cycles.

Industry & Start-up Empowerment

¨     Assured Orders: Make and iDEX projects now come with five years of assured orders and provisions for “spiral development” (iterative upgrades).

¨     Single Vendor Cases: Ab-initio single-vendor procurement is now permitted in the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category for high-maturity equipment (TRL 6 to 9).

¨     Timeline Monitoring: Tracking now begins from the Request for Information (RFI) stage to ensure adherence to acquisition schedules.

Significance of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2026

¨     Strengthening Atmanirbhar Bharat in Defence: The DAP 2026 reinforces preference for the Buy Indian–IDDM. This reduces import dependence and promotes domestic defence production.

¨     Accelerating Capital Procurement and Force Modernisation: The DAP governs capital acquisitions under the Ministry of Defence and streamlines procedures to ensure faster procurement of advanced military platforms suited to modern warfare requirements.

¨  Promoting Indigenous Design and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): The policy encourages indigenous designing and retention of Intellectual Property Rights to strengthen long-term technological capability and innovation within India.

¨     Boosting Defence Manufacturing and Exports: The DAP 2026 supports participation of private industry, including Micro Small and Medium Enterprises and promotes defence exports, thereby strengthening the national defence ecosystem and contributing to economic growth.