P.V. Venkata Krishna asked: Does DAP 2020 guide the vendors on whether they can use China-based hardware or software or both in defence stores? If not, which policy should the vendors follow?

Amit Cowshish replies: The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 does not specifically prohibit the use of raw material, hardware, or software imported from any country. However, it does require the vendors to institute appropriate measures for information security and to ensure that the equipment being supplied is free from the possibility of subversion attacks, embedded spyware/ malware, and similar risks. A Malicious Code Certificate in the prescribed format is also required to be given by the vendors, if specified in the Request for Proposal (RfP).

It would be appropriate for the vendors to respect the Ministry of Defence’s sensitivity on this issue and strictly comply with the requirements/specifications mentioned in the RfP in letter and spirit to pre-empt any subsequent dispute, without drawing any self-serving inferences. In case of any doubt about any requirement/specification mentioned in the RfP, the vendors also have the option of seeking clarification in the pre-bid meeting.

Posted on June 28, 2021

Views expressed are of the expert and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Manohar Parrikar IDSA or the Government of India.