Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday announced major changes in the country’s defence procurement policy, saying that preference would not be given to the cheapest manufacturer anymore. Parrikar said that now priority would be given to equipment designed, developed and manufactured indigenously.

The new DPP will be notified in two months, along with liberalised and revised norms for blacklisting and hiring authorised representatives of armed companies, The Times of India reported. The revised policy will give a huge push to Indian defence industrial base by encouraging the private sector to enter arms production in a big way. It will also seek to cut down delays in the arms acquisition process.

The earlier arms procurement model, which gave preference to cheaper manufacturers, will be revised so that 10% is given to “extra performance”, Parrikar said. “If a particular system performance is better than the desired qualities but it is not the cheapest, it will be given extra weightage,” he said.