PM Modi Doesn't Want Cost Overruns And Delays In Defence Projects
PM Modi held a high-level review meeting with top officials on January 13 and told them to ensure total accountability in Indian defence planning. The meeting was attended by Dr PK Mishra, principal secretary to PM, Ajit Doval, National Security Adviser, Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of Naval Staff, Giridhar Aramane, defence secretary, and Dr Samir V Kamat, secretary DRDO and chairman DRDO, apart from other top officials
On the eve of the 75th Republic Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has exhorted
the armed forces, the military-civilian bureaucracy, and the Defence Research
and Development Organization (DRDO) to get their act together, erase cost
overruns and project delays, and focus on making “Atmanirbhar Bharat”
(self-reliant India) a success in terms of defence manufacturing.
Although the details of the meeting are classified, it is understood that Modi
asked those present to look at the long-term future of defence manufacturing,
not merely the present, and conduct an audit of the platforms already with the
armed forces before asking for more. He wanted accountability for cost
overruns and delays in defence projects running into hundreds of crores and
tens of years at a time when his government is keen to ensure the money saved
can go into welfare programs such as the PM Awas Yojana, which builds houses
for the underprivileged.
Rather than clear any new acquisitions, the PM wanted answers on how the armed
forces handle the obsolescence of platforms and accountability for accidents
in which platforms worth hundreds of crore are destroyed or rendered unusable,
people familiar with the proceedings of the meeting said on condition of
anonymity.
Modi’s concern over the Indian defence research and manufacturing came just
two weeks after Prof K Vijay Raghavan, former principal scientific adviser to
the Modi government, submitted a scathing review report, “Redefining Defence
Research and Development” to defence minister Rajnath Singh on December 30.
The high-level committee has made critical observations about DRDO that need
urgent attention and reform (see chart). The sum and substance of the report
is that DRDO is taking on defence projects it cannot possibly complete in the
timelines projected, resulting in heavy cost overruns and technological
obsolescence even before the platform is ready. The 10-member committee headed
by Vijay Raghavan found that DRDO was top heavy with an aging scientific force
that was not nimble and focused only on India’s western front (Pakistan)
rather than being cognisant of the current threat (an ostensible reference to
China). The committee also found that DRDO was reactive to what was being done
in third countries with no plans to lead in terms of technological expertise
or advancement; DRDO was in a “catch up” mode technologically, not
“breakthrough” mode.
The report comes at a time when India has sought to enhance domestic
acquisition of defence equipment, and also make products for the export
market.
The committee, after talking to stakeholders in government and private sector
found there was a no synergy between DRDO and the equipment users, two with
the designer and the user mostly talking past each other, leading to lopsided
development of platforms.
The Vijay Raghavan committee has made 11 key recommendations with
implementation deadlines in the report (the longest is 180 days). The report
found near total neglect of development of the national ecosystem for defence
research with the private sector kept out, ostensibly in the name of national
security. It found that DRDO’’s interaction with a resurgent Indian academia
and industry was only in the early stages of a project and usually, of a token
nature.
The conclusions of the report and the proceedings at the PM’s review meeting
suggest that DRDO needs a complete overhaul, armed forces need accountability,
and national security planners, the vision to make “Atmanirbhar Bharat” a
success.
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