Cut red tape in procurement: Indian Defence Minister A K Antony

With the armed forces going on a fast-track modernisation drive after 26/11 terror strikes, Defence Minister A K Antony said that "unnecessary procedures, bottle-necks and red-tape" should be cut down for hastening procurement procedures. "We need to cut down on the unnecessary procedures, bottlenecks and red tapism in our procurement mechanism," Antony said while addressing the "Jumbo" Majumdar Seminar on 'Dominance of Aerospace Power' in New Delhi on Wednesday. He said that to fasten the procurement procedures, the Government had come with the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) and if required, further changes can also be made. "We have framed our defence procurement procedures. If changes in the present procedures are required to ensure speedy procurement, we will examine them," Antony said. He said that allocation of funds for defence forces' modernisation was not a problem. "The government is earmarking huge budgets for the defence forces but it is not fully reflected in our modernisation efforts," Defence Minister said. He said that the forces should timely and judiciously utilise the money allocated to them. Without mentioning DRDO's frequent complaints against the services of making last minute changes in their specifications and requirements during trials of its equipment and systems, Antony said, "End-users (armed forces) must also ensure that the requirements and specifications are not changed frequently."