New Delhi: Defence Ministry on Thursday ordered an inquiry into reports of procurement of outdated spying equipment by Army`s Military Intelligence branch from an Indian company.
Citing defence documents, The Hindu newspaper in a report
published today suggested that the equipment and software
procured by the Army for collection of photogrammetry and
geographical information system data are outdated as the
Indian firm did not possess the license to upgrade and update
these.
"An inquiry has been ordered to probe the matter," a
Defence Ministry spokesperson said here today while refusing
to elaborate when his comments were sought on the news report.
The report alleged that the Army paid more than Rs 500
crore for purchasing the equipment from 1998 to 2008 and it
paid a little over Rs 40 crore per annum for its annual
maintenance contract.
It said the contract under which these equipments were
procured, overlooked some of the clauses due to which the
guarantee and warranty for these products were not obtained by
the Army.
Some of the documents cited by the report said the Indian
firm which supplied the equipment never procured the licenses
from the original manufacturer of these softwares and
equipments.
It also said the original equipment manufacturer had
informed the Defence Ministry early this year that it had
never authorized any Indian firm to customize its products.
PTI
