India, Armenia working group discusses defence industrial collaboration

Hyderabad, Oct 23 (IANS) The Joint Working Group Meeting on Defence Cooperation between India and Armenia on Thursday exchanged views on bilateral defence cooperation, defence industrial collaboration and other security issues of mutual interest, an official said.

The Indian delegation at the meeting held here was led by Vishwesh Negi, Joint Secretary (IC), and the Armenian delegation was led by Levon Ayvazyan, Head of Policy and International Military Cooperation Department, MoD of Armenia, said the Ministry of Defence in a post on X.

Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released the Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) 2025 at a function in South Block, New Delhi.

According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), effective from November 1, 2025, the new procurement manual will facilitate the revenue procurement amounting to approximately Rs 1 lakh crore by the three Services and other establishments under the Ministry of Defence.

Appreciating the efforts of MoD and HQ Integrated Defence Staff for the revision of the manual, the Defence Minister expressed confidence that the new manual will simplify the procedures, bring uniformity in functioning and be helpful in providing goods and services required by the Armed Forces for operational preparedness.

“It will also provide more opportunities to MSMEs and start-ups in the field of defence manufacturing and technology, duly ensuring fairness, transparency and accountability in procurement,” the MoD said in its press release.

Notably, some key provisions have been altered to expedite decision-making and promote ease of doing business.

“Liquidated damages (LD), which are levied on delayed delivery of stores and services, have been relaxed, and maximum LD to the extent of 10 per cent will be levied only in cases of inordinate delay. This provision has further been relaxed in case of indigenisation, where only 0.1 per cent LD per week will be levied instead of 0.5 per cent per week as applicable in other cases,” the MoD said.

In addition, there are provisions for assured orders ranging up to five years and beyond for the items developed by the public/private players under indigenisation.

--IANS

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