Rattled by scams in procurement of weapons from foreign vendors, the Defence Ministry is planning a major thrust to indigenization and giving the first right of refusal to domestic industry in the revised Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP).
Moreover, the armed forces will be directed to explore the Indian Defence Industry including public and private first for weapons and allied systems. If not able to find suitable equipment then only they will opt for foreign manufacturers.
The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Defence Minister AK Antony is expected to give the green signal to the revised DPP next month. In the wake of the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter scandal, Antony said some days back that indigenization is the ultimate answer to avoid controversies and called for changing the DPP.
He also urged the armed forces to change their mindset of relying on imports to meet their operational requirements and said the Government will take up indigenization in mission mode.
However, the armed forces opt for foreign equipment as the Indian Defence Industry is still evolving and not able to produce world class weapons. Moreover, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is grappling with time and cost overruns and Antony has repeatedly pulled it up
for delays.
The army has not procured an artillery gun since the Bofors gun controversy in 1987 and the Indian industry is yet to manufacture a state-of-the-art gun. Similarly, the Indian industry manufactures tanks, aircraft and helicopters through transfer of technology from the original equipment manufacturer but is yet to come up with a truly indigenous product.
Moreover, the first indigenously designed and developed Tejas light combat aircraft is yet to join service and the project is delayed by more than 15 years. Also, the
indigenously designed jet fighter engine Kaveri is yet to clear stringent tests and Tejas has to rely on US made GE-404 engines.
Given this background, the armed forces argue that instead of reinventing the wheel, it is better to go for an imported product as it is better and cheaper than the indigenous system.