Defence Economics & Industry

About Centre

India spends a significant amount of resources on its national defence. Efficiency in utilisation of resources is not only an economic imperative but vital for defence preparedness. In view of this, the Defence Economics and Industry Centre was created in 2006 to promote research on various economic aspects of India’s defence. Since its inception, the Centre has undertaken a number of policy relevant studies besides constantly engaging vital stakeholders (Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces and Industry) on a range of issues. The major focus areas of the Centre are:

Defence Acquisition
- Organisational and procedural improvement
- Offsets
Defence Industry
- Self-reliance in Defence Production
- Efficiency of Defence Public Sector Undertakings/Ordnance Factory Board
- Enhancing Private Sector Participation in Defence Production
Defence Research and Development
Defence Budget

Integrating Defence Plans with Niti Aayog’s Long Term Vision

While it may be tempting for the Niti Aayog to make deep inroads into defence planning, it would be wise to focus only on those areas that do not disturb the core function of defence preparedness.

Buy (IDDM) or Buy (Indian): Horns of a Dilemma

If a product is indigenously designed, developed and manufactured, should the percentage of indigenous content in that product really matter so much?

Amit Cowshish
April 29, 2016
IDSA Comments

Strategic Partnerships: A Critical Overview of the Aatre Task Force Report

The Task Force has not extended the principle of Strategic Partnership to the whole gamut of big contracts in which the private sector is supposed to play a major role. And it visualises strategic partners as poor cousins of state-owned entities.

DPP-2016: An Analytical Overview

Introduction of the ‘Buy (Indian-IDDM)’ procurement category, the revamped ‘Make’ procedure, structural change in AAP, and higher and flexible indigenous content requirement in certain procurement categories are all likely to deepen the involvement of domestic industry in defence production.

Transfer of Defence Technology: A Critical Analysis

‘Transfer of Technology’ does not magically elevate defence production capabilities to cutting-edge levels and help attain future self-reliance because technology sellers employ restrictive trade practices to prevent such an eventuality.

Discontinuance of National Five Year Plans – Time to Revaluate Defence Planning

Defence planning has had a troubled history since its inception, in spite of several experiments with the structures and processes of planning. It will, therefore, be in the fitness of things to re-evaluate the existing architecture of planning.

Amit Cowshish
April 11, 2016
IDSA Comments

What the Standing Committee on Defence can do to improve the state of defence preparedness

Rather than continuing to harp on issues like inadequacy of defence outlays, the committee could actually bring about a tangible improvement in the state of defence preparedness by focusing on four specific micro areas.

Amit Cowshish
April 04, 2016
IDSA Comments

Defence Procurement Procedure 2016: Rebooting Defence Production and Procurement

The best of policies and procedures can come to naught because of indecisiveness in decision-making. There is little in DPP 2016 that addresses the problems which beset decision-making in the MoD.

Amit Cowshish
March 30, 2016
IDSA Comments

Defence Budget 2016-17: The Bigger Worry

Calculations reveal that the capital expenditure has been cut primarily to accommodate the rise in salary and pension bills arising out of the implementation of OROP scheme and the Seventh Central Pay Commission recommendations.

All About Pay and Perks: India’s Defence Budget 2016-17

The two heads of expenditure which have witnessed significant growth in the defence budget 2016-17 are the salary component of the armed forces and the defence pensions.