The decision was taken during a meeting with the three Service chiefs--Admiral Nirmal Verma, General V K Singh and Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne--during which the Defence Minister also had a detailed review of the current security situation. Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma was also present in the meeting.
"To accelerate the process of procurement for the armed forces, the Defence Minister today gave his in-principle approval to a three-fold hike in the delegation of financial powers to Service headquarters--from the current Rs 50 crore to Rs 150 crore," a Defence Ministry spokesperson said.
The Minister also reviewed the overall training and operational activities of the armed forces in light of the present security situation.
"The three Service chiefs have also been asked to explore more avenues for giving Permanent Commission to women in the armed forces," the spokesperson said.
On the sidelines of the security review, the Defence Minister also "had a one-on-one meeting with Army Chief General V K Singh this morning. The meeting lasted 15 minutes."
