Ammunition for the Indian Army: C&AG Rings Alarm Bells
MoD will have to make sure that no weapon system is purchased unless an arrangement is made for sustained supply of ammunition, not necessarily through the OFB.
- Amit Cowshish
- June 09, 2015
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:
No posts of Books and Monograph.
No posts of Jounral.
MoD will have to make sure that no weapon system is purchased unless an arrangement is made for sustained supply of ammunition, not necessarily through the OFB.
MoD will have to make sure that no weapon system is purchased unless an arrangement is made for sustained supply of ammunition, not necessarily through the OFB.
It is time the MoD considered creating structures and organizations that are not an intrinsic part of the ministerial set up to implement the production and procurement policies once these are formulated by the ministry.
Policymakers need to ask themselves ‘What Really Makes Offsets Tick?’ in order to develop an objective framework based on sound principles repeatedly noticed in the offset regulations of ‘The Smarter Lot’ of countries and in the process avoid committing the seven ‘original sins’ that a poorly-designed offset policy may entail.
MoD will do well to set up a crack team of experts from all fields to work out the terms of the proposed IGA keeping in view the larger picture of what happens after these 36 aircraft are inducted.
A loosely articulated idea of making India a defence manufacturing hub cannot work unless it is backed by a comprehensive blueprint, efficient procedures, meticulous implementation, trained and responsive manpower, continuous monitoring and quick decision-making.
One area where the 2015-16 defence budget is likely to hurt the most is in capital acquisition, which has already been under acute pressure in recent years due to the overwhelming share of the ‘committed liabilities’ arising out of contracts already signed
The bad news in this year’s defence budget is that it does not recognise that things are not going in the right direction but only the beaten track. And the poor track record in fully utilising the resources allocated for ‘Modernisation’ is the worse news.
It is a fairly simple exercise to estimate what the defence budget will be given available indicators. My assessment is that the Budget Estimate for defence is likely to be around Rs. 250,000 crore, with 105,000 crore for Capital Expenditure and 145,000 Crore for Revenue Expenditure.
There is an urgent need to conceptualise a policy framework as to what Make-in-India implies so far as defence production is concerned and how it is different from the existing policy framework.