CRPF To Purchase Drones to Deal With Maoists and Kashmiri Insurgency

The 57-page tender notification seeks a two-year guarantee from the manufacturers, who have to supply the drones within 90 days of winning the contract.

The tendering process for the procurement of 25 advanced drones has started and they are expected to be introduced in Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) arsenal in the next three-four months. According to media reports and IANS, who received this information from a DIG rank officer on the condition of anonymity, a pre-bid conference for the procurement of the drones was held on September 12 last year and the online and offline tender was opened on October 26 with a validity of six months.

These drones, each costing around 15 lac, are being purchased to help the CRPF personnel during surveillance, reconnaissance and detection in day and night operations in Jammu and Kashmir, and in the dense forests of Maoist-hit states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The 25 new drones will join CRPF’s existing fleet of 40 and help the force get real-time inputs and help avoid attacks. The tender, issued on August 25 last year with the submission date on January 2, invited an “online global tender” in a two-bid system for the supply of 25 micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAVs), as per media inputs.

The 57-page tender notification seeks a two-year guarantee from the manufacturers, who have to supply the drones within 90 days of winning the contract. The notification says the tendering firms have to register with the National Small Industries Corporation to undergo re-verification of their manufacturing capacity and clarifies that in case of denial for re-verification, they will be disqualified.

Training of 75 CRPF personnel to handle the drones and minor repairs at the 4 Signal Battalion of the force in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, are part of the conditions laid down in the document.