MORE AUTONOMY TO DPSUS AND OFBS FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE: DEFENCE MINISTER, PARRIKAR

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar recently said MoD would be bringing about major changes in the Defence Procurement Procedure and the Defence Production Policy to provide greater autonomy to the defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) units for their expansion and diversification. Addressing the Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry, he said, we need to delegate powers to DPSUs to enable them to take decisions so that they improve the serviceability of the platforms available to the armed forces. “Every machine in operation is like adding an additional equipment. DPSUs will be provided support but they must think like a commercial organisation”, he said.

Referring to the ‘Make in India’ Procedure in defence, Parrikar said it needs further improvement. Defence industry in India is a unique industry where the only customer is the Services. The meeting discussed in detail the performance of the 41 ordnance factories and nine DPSUs.

Taking part in the discussions, Members of Parliament wanted to know whether the government has drawn up a clear roadmap to reduce defence imports. Some members felt that there was a concerted campaign to denigrate the public sector and to promote the private sector. They felt that unlike consumer products, the design and development of defence product has a long gestation and the contribution of DPSUs has to be appreciated in that light. They expressed the view that the private sector must be promoted in a big way, but not at the cost of the public sector. The Defence Secretary R.K. Mathur; Secretary Defence Production G. Mohan Kumar; Secretary, ESW, P.D. Meena also attended the meeting.