Although the new measures announced to fast-track the defence sector are significant, they do not add up to a comprehensive and overarching reforms package.

• Amit Cowshish
• May 20, 2020
• IDSA Comments

Inclusion of new clauses in the draft DPP-2020 and changes made in some of the existing ones are intended to make the SCD more comprehensive. However, there is a scope for bringing about textual clarity in the new as well as some of the existing clauses of the SCD, especially those which have been modified.

• Amit Cowshish , Laxman Kumar Behera
• May 14, 2020
• Policy Brief

Redrafting the chapter on post-contract management, expatiating the concept of contract operating officers and clearly defining their role and responsibilities vis-à-vis the other agencies, could go a long way in serving its purpose.

• Amit Cowshish
• May 08, 2020
• IDSA Comments

It would be advisable to review the proposed offset guidelines keeping in view the feedback from the industry, especially the foreign vendors who carry the primary obligation to execute the offset contract, as also the legacy issues.

• Amit Cowshish
• April 30, 2020
• IDSA Comments

Smaller, smarter, potent and cheaper combat entities — linked and networked – will be at the heart of future warfare.

• Atul Pant
• April 27, 2020
• Issue Brief

The inevitable reprioritisation of the central government’s expenditure in the coming union budgets would affect the resource allocations particularly for big ministries like the MoD, which will be forced to realign their business practices.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• April 24, 2020
• IDSA Comments

Given the rapidly rising pension liability in India and the concern expressed by the CDS, the experiences of the US and the UK could be useful in carrying out pension reforms in India.

• Laxman Kumar Behera , Vinay Kaushal , Amit Cowshish
• April 23, 2020
• Policy Brief

The PPP model helps in improving the productivity and exploiting the full potential of asset-based services that base workshops provide. This is particularly relevant when there exists a competitive market and a benchmark for the army between an in-house and an external solution.

• Vinay Kaushal
• April 18, 2020
• Issue Brief

Considering the impending financial crunch due to the Covid-19 pandemic and uncertainty about allocations in the coming years, it is unlikely that the MoD will be able to launch many new procurement programmes under the new DPP any time soon.

• Amit Cowshish
• April 17, 2020
• IDSA Comments

The present crisis is as much of a challenge as an opportunity to infuse financial realism in defence planning and bring about concomitant reforms in the quickest possible timeframe.

• Amit Cowshish
• April 13, 2020
• IDSA Comments