New Delhi: Country’s first full-time woman defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday presided the first meeting of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the highest body in the ministry to decide on procurements.

To speed up the acquisitions, Sitharaman had announced DAC meeting in every fortnight.

According to the defence ministry, during the meeting, Sitharaman reviewed the status of the Capital Acquisition Schemes as on date and directed that the schemes are to be meticulously monitored and brought to maturity within stipulated timelines.

“DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity to the Indian Navy for procurement of upgraded Sonars for its destroyers and frigates at a cost of Rs. 200 crore,” ministry said.

These Sonars are designed, developed and manufactured indigenously by the DRDO and the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory, Kochi and will provide a significant boost to the Navy’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities. The DAC additionally cleared procurement of missiles for replenishing the naval inventory.

Ministry officials claim that towards this end, the Minister Sitharamanstated that the Defence Acquisition Council meetings are to be conducted once in a fortnight to enable speeding up the process of Capability Development of the Armed Forces.