New Delhi: Government on Tuesday called for
greater involvement of the private sector in defence
production and said the country's Defence Procurement Policy
(DPP) would be fined tuned by September to reduce imports and
promote indigenisation.
Inaugurating a FICCI-sponsored seminar on 'Defence
Procurement - Movement from Offsets to Buy and Make Indian'
here at the DefExpo, Defence Ministry's Director General
Acquisition Shashi Kant Sharma said the changes in the DPP
will be released by September this year.
The changes relate to value addition, focus on critical
technologies, a conducive taxation regime and strengthening of
research and development, he said.
"DPP is not an end in itself, but a vehicle to meet the
larger goal of security of the nation," Sharma said, adding
that if India has to have a say globally, it needs to have a
vibrant defence industry.
In this context, Sharma said there was a need for greater
involvement of the private sector in defence production and
its capability to absorb technologies would have to match what
was available worldwide.
The introduction of 'Buy and Make (Indian)' category in
the DPP-2009 was designed to enhance participation by the
private sector, meeting Indian requirements for
state-of-the-art defence systems and platforms by getting into
tie-ups with technology providers through the mechanism of
technology transfer in joint ventures.
"This is a major step, which has been taken by the
government as a result of the review of DPP.
"In capital acquisition cases categorised as 'Buy and
Make (Indian)', the Request for Proposal (tenders) will be
issued to those Indian industries that have requisite
financial and technical capabilities to enter into Joint
Ventures, as also absorb technology and undertake indigenous
manufacture," Sharma said.
"The procedure to be followed in this regard will be akin
to the existing 'Make' procedure with a difference that the
production and development by the Indian industry will be
through Transfer of Technology and not through Research and
Development.
"This provides companies an opportunity to pursue tie ups
and joint ventures as 'Buy Indian', 'Buy and Make Indian, and
'Make' will be the preferred categories with option of 'Buy
Global' being resorted to only where equipment with requisite
Qualitative Requirements are not possible to be procured
through these methods in the required time frame," he added.
On the ongoing modernisation of the armed forces and the
acquisition reforms, Sharma said the Indian defence market now
offered great opportunity for formation of joint ventures and
direct sourcing by the global players.
"India needs highly sophisticated and technologically
advanced products to meet requirements of the armed forces.
"The government was also looking for collaborations in the
field of Defence R&D and tie-ups in critical technology areas
in order to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces through
indigenous sources to the extent possible," he noted.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 18:23