India To Review And Revise Procurement Policies: Defense Minister

Indian Defense Minister A K Antony today called for speedy indigenization in defence production in order to eliminate corruption in procurement process. Addressing the Second International Seminar on Army Air Defence, Antony said the Armed Forces, the Government, the DRDO, the industry - both public and private sector - should come together in a mission mode so that the country can achieve maximum for indigenization in a reasonable framework of time.

He added that the Government will have a second look at both the Defence procurement procedure and the defence production policy and amend it in a manner so that the industry can take more interest in defence production. 

In reference to recent allegations of corruption and money laundering, Antony said the Government had taken stringent action against six companies which had resorted to unethical practices in securing other defence contracts.

He said while drawing up the list of products for their operational requirements, the Services should look at the availability of the same in the country first. “Imports should be the last resort”, he said. “We need collaboration at the global level to leverage the benefits of the latest available technologies. Government’s policy on Offset is expected to facilitate this. I would urge the industry to come forward and take advantage of this policy”.