Article Posted on : - Aug 17, 2021

NEW DELHI (PTI): The Defence Ministry will soon issue requests for proposal (RFPs) to set up eight defence testing facilities in the country in partnership with the private sector, an official statement said Monday.

These RFPs would be issued under the Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS) which was launched by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in May 2020. The DTIS has an outlay for Rs 400 crore.

"The scheme would run for the duration of five years and envisages setting up of 6-8 greenfield defence testing infrastructure facilities that are required for defence and aerospace-related production," the Ministry's statement noted.

The RFP is a business document that announces a project, describes it, and invites bids for completing it.

The projects under the scheme will be provided with up to 75 per cent government funding in the form of 'grant-in-aid', it said.

"The remaining 25 per cent of the project cost will have to be borne by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), constituents of which will be the Indian private entities and state governments," it mentioned.

"In this regard, Department of Defence Production/ Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DDP/ DGQA) has published eight Expressions of Interest (EOIs) catering to setting up of defence test facilities in selected domains," it said.

The RFP for the defence test facility for selected aid domains will be issued shortly, it added.