NEW DELHI: India does not get enough bang for its buck in the arms business. With this in mind, the defence ministry is now looking to create a specialised defence procurement organisation DPO ) to streamline mega arms acquisitions as well as leverage them to build a robust defence industrial base (DIB) in the country.Defence ministry sources said creation of the DPO as “a strategic imperative for longterm self-reliance” would be the second big-ticket defence reform to be set in motion after the “strategic partnership (SP)” policy is finalised to boost the private sector’s role in defence production.The SP policy, under which select Indian private sector companies will be nominated to jointly produce weapons systems with global armament companies, is slated for discussion in the defence acquisitions council (DAC) meeting to be chaired by defence minister Arun Jaitley on Monday, as was earlier reported by TOI.“Once the SP policy is hopefully cleared this month, the focus will shift to setting up the DPO. Jaitley has already received detailed presentations on the DPO, whose main aim will be to use India’s arms procurement clout to build a strong DIB,” said a source.The “professional and empowered” DPO, which was recommended by the Pritam Singh committee, will “amalgamate” what the defence ministry currently does in “a fragmented and isolated manner” by integrating the longwinded and cumbersome arms acquisitions, offsets, defence production and other such processes.“Vested with some autonomy, the DPO will function as the powerful executive arm of the defence minister-led DAC. After the DPO is approved by the Cabinet, it will take around two years to take full shape. It will also have legal, costing and contracting experts, who are largely missing in the existing system,” he said.India still acquires 65% of its military hardware and software from abroad, which not only places it in a strategically vulnerable position, but also ensures its enduring and embarrassing tag of being the world’s largest arms importer.This is primarily due to the sloppy performance of DRDO and its 50 labs, five defence PSUs, four shipyards and 41 ordnance factories as well as the failure to enthuse the private sector to enter defence production in a major way over the years.The Modi government, after it came to office in May 2014, launched a major ‘Make in India’ drive in the defence production sector but it’s yet to translate into anything concrete on the ground.“There has been some improvement with the new Defence Procurement Procedure giving top priority to the new indigenous design, development and manufacturing (IDDM) category. We hope the SP policy and DPO, working in conjunction, will catalyse the defence-industrial ecosystem in the country,” said the source.