The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is expected to take up high-value proposals related to the emergency procurement of critical military systems and equipment, potentially unlocking orders worth Rs 80,000 crore.
These approvals come at a time when India is looking to scale up its indigenous defence manufacturing and reduce dependency on imports.
It is believed that the DAC meeting could set the tone for a strong order pipeline heading into 2026, especially for players like BEL and BDL with established capabilities in missile systems, radars, and electronics warfare systems.
India is also set to take a call on leasing of two Sea Guardian MQ-9B HALE drones from the US for around three years at the meeting. India has already signed a deal for 31 of these drones, which are expected to begin arriving in India from 2028 onward.
The Defence Ministry is also likely to clear the development and procurement of a very large number of Astra Mark 2 air-to-air missiles with a strike range of over 200 km for the Indian Air Force, along with a specific number of Meteor air-to-air missiles.
In September, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) 2025, a comprehensive framework designed to fast-track revenue procurement for the Armed Forces, enhance domestic industry participation, and modernise procurement processes in line with evolving operational needs.DPM 2025 places strong emphasis on Aatmanirbharta in defence manufacturing, encouraging greater participation from private players, MSMEs and startups, alongside defence public sector undertakings (PSUs).
So far in 2025, defence stocks have delivered a mixed but largely positive performance—HAL shares are up 6%, BEL has surged over 35%, BDL has rallied more than 30%, while Data Patterns has gained over 7%.
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