Military Acquisitions in India is a concept and a formal policy scheme that governs the procurement of capital defence equipment for the armed forces, excluding land and certain specified works. This process is formally codified in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP), which is a key policy instrument of the Ministry of Defence.
The origin of a structured procedure can be traced back to the 187th report of the Public Accounts Committee in 1989, which led to initial guidelines in 1992. A formal Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) was introduced in 2002 following the recommendations of the Group of Ministers post-Kargil War, aiming to streamline the historically slow and opaque procurement of military hardware.
The mechanism of the DAP is anchored in a 10-year Integrated Capability Development Plan (ICDP) and a two-year rolling Annual Acquisition Plan (AAP). It works through various procurement categories, including the 'Make' categories, such as Make-I (government-funded) and Make-II (industry-funded), which are central to the 'Make in India' initiative. The DAP also includes provisions for leasing (Lease (Indian) and Lease (Global)) and an embargo on the import of over 100 weapons and platforms to promote the domestic defence industry.
The concept is intrinsically connected to the government's flagship 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (Self-Reliant India) initiative, aiming to reduce reliance on foreign arms imports.
The procedure has changed recently: the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 replaced the earlier DPP 2016 on October 1, 2020. A draft DAP 2026 has been released to replace DAP 2020, proposing a reduction in procurement categories from five to four and an increase in the required indigenous content in the “Buy (Indian–Indigenous Design, Development and Manufacture)” category from 50% to 60%. This change signifies a shift in focus from merely "Made in India" to "Owned by India," emphasizing the ownership of design and intellectual property.