By Aritra Banerjee
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued a Request For Proposal (RFP), for the procurement of 163 Logistic (Drones), along with accessories under the Emergency Procurement through Fast Track Procedure (FTP). The categorisation of procurement is under the Buy (Indian) category. These drones should be able to carry a payload weight of not less than 15 kilograms and should have a range of 10 kilometres for delivering payloads.
The indigenous content requirement for this proposal is at least 60% and if, indigenous design minimum 50%. It may be poignant to note that only Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM), authorised vendors, or government sponsored export agencies are eligible to respond to this RFP. As stated in the RFP, the service life should be at least 1,000 landings. Regarding product support, the bidder would be required to provide support regarding maintenance, materials and spares during the product’s life cycle.
The RFP stipulates that a training package for the training of operators, operator trainers and maintenance personnel to undertake the operation and maintenance of equipment, along with tools and test jigs and training of quality assurance personnel to ensure the quality of the equipment would be required to be carried out in the English language and even in Hindi if required. The training shall be designed to give the operators and maintainers the necessary knowledge and skills to operate and maintain equipment in the field. The bidder will define the syllabus in consultation with the buyer.
The RFP highlights that the maintenance training will be imparted to the buyer’s satisfaction, and the bidder will ensure that the training content and period will impart working proficiency up to the required level. All training requirements such as training aids, projection system, complete equipment with accessories/optionals, technical literature, spares, test equipment/test set up, charts, training handouts, power point presentations, Computer Based Training (CBT), documentation, simulators etc. will be catered by the bidder.
The RFP highlighted that any queries or clarifications to the RFP may be sent by 28 October 2022. Furthermore, a pre-bid meeting is scheduled to be organised by SHQ at 3:30 PM on 4 November 2022 in room number 407, Infantry Directorate, D-1 Wing, Sena Bhawan, to answer any queries or clarify doubts regarding the submission of proposals. Submission of bids should be latest by 11 November 2022 at 14:00 hours.
