Defence ministry doubles financial powers of field commanders

New Delhi: Defence ministry has doubled the financial powers of field commanders, a move aimed at allowing them to carry out faster and more efficient procurement as well as work through the revenue route. The enhanced financial delegation will support procurements worth ₹1.25 lakh crore in this financial year, including grants for research and development and import substitution.

"The enhancement in the financial powers has been made up to 100%, and even more than double in some cases. This would further strengthen the operational efficiency of field commanders, and lead to faster conclusion of contracts and execution of projects," said an official.

Under the new rules, the cap for army commanders and equivalent has been raised to ₹100 crore from the earlier ₹30 crore. For chief of service level, the limit has been enhanced to ₹125 crore from ₹75 crore.


The revision in the financial powers of field commanders, announced by defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday, comes after five years and will cater to the expansion in force level and increased expenditure on operations.

Officials said that among other things, financial powers for indigenisation and research and development have been doubled, to further reduce dependencies on imports.

The new rules will also encourage the three services to work together by providing an even higher ceiling for joint procurements. "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 the normal procurement," said the official cited earlier.

The delegation of powers is part of a series of reforms initiated by Rajnath Singh to decentralise procurements and enable the services to quickly absorb new technologies based on real-time feedback from field formations.

The minister had earlier approved several rounds of emergency procedures that enabled the forces to quickly place orders for a range of weaponry, including drone and anti-drone systems. The new Defence Acquisition Procedure, which is undergoing final clearances, will also empower the forces to make faster procurements with reduced bureaucratic hurdles.