New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday approved a three-fold increase in funds at the disposal of Army, Navy and IAF Field Commanders to strengthen operational efficiency. Going by this year’s budgetary allocations, the revised delegation of financial powers will facilitate procurement of over Rs 1.25 lakh crore through the revenue route.
While financial ceiling at the disposal of service chiefs has been increased from Rs 75 crore to Rs 150 crore per project, for field commanders it has been raised from Rs 30 crore to Rs 100 crore per project, sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint.
The move is expected to enable Field Commanders to conclude contracts and execute projects faster without having to go through the long circuitous route.
In addition to the enhancement in financial powers, new provisions have been included to promote joint service procurement by the lead service with higher delegation than allowed for normal procurement, Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement earlier in the day.
Explaining what this means, defence sources said each Field Commander will have the financial authority to go in for procurement at their level. They added that the ceiling is not the same for each Field Commander and will vary depending on requirement.
For example, the Northern Army Commander will have a higher allocation of funds at their disposal than the Southern Army Commander.
Sources also said the enhanced limit is for procurement under the revenue route that caters to sustenance, besides works like infrastructure development for operational needs.
Many new competent financial authorities have been introduced to decentralise procurement of goods and services, the MoD statement added.
The changes are part of the revised Delegation of Financial Powers for the Defence Services (DFPDS) released by the defence minister Thursday. DFPDS were last notified in 2021. The revision was necessitated due to expansion at the force level and to cater to the increased expenditure on operations and sustenance vis-à-vis the increase in budgetary allocation.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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