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Corruption in Defence Acquisition will not be
Tolerated : Antony
The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony today cautioned defence
suppliers and vendors that the government would not hesitate to take “extreme
steps” if it detects corruption in an acquisition process even though the
process may be at its last stage of completion. Addressing an International
Seminar on Defence Acquisition organized by the Institute of Defence Studies
and Analyses (IDSA) here, Shri Antony assured the vendors that they will get
level playing field and fair play in the acquisition processes. At the same
time he asked them ‘not to try to corrupt our people’. Going a step further,
the Defence Minister said, “I do not want to be a party to any corrupt practice
and will not allow even a rupee of Indian taxpayer’s money to be spent on
graft.
Shri Antony said the defence acquisition in the country will not be
propelled by political decisions. He said, up to the trial stage, technical
soundness of a product will determine whether it will remain in race and after
that it is the price which will determine its ultimate selection for
procurement. Shri Antony said, today the nature of warfare has shifted and
challenges range from asymmetric threats, terrorism, internal disturbances as well
as conventional warfare in a nuclear backdrop. On our part we need to develop
the latest strategic and conventional capabilities. However, in our enthusiasm
to modernize and upgrade our security infrastructure, we must not allow our
defence acquisition procedures to be manipulated or corrupted. Our primary
objective must be to stay competitive and yet remain cost efficient, as well as
technologically and strategically reliable. For this to happen, defence
industrialization will have to be accelerated.
The Defence Minister said, the private sector will have to play a
bigger role in collaboration with the public sector. There is a lot of space
for the private and the public sector to co-exist. There is a lot of scope in
the defence sector in various spheres - infrastructure development, logistics,
training, simulation and exports. Defence could also provide enormous scope for
Indian business and industry in spheres such as infrastructure development,
exports and for becoming an important constituent of the global defence supply
chain. Joint ventures and technical collaborations would help the Indian
defence industry to strive for greater excellence in Defence R&D, design,
engineering and manufacturing.
Shri Antony said, with the latest defence production policy we want
to strengthen the defence industrial base - both in the public and the private
sector. The offsets policy has far more potential than has been hitherto
tapped. Offsets need a far greater thrust to enhance R&D and logistic
capabilities, as well as defence infrastructure. We need to clearly identify
and define our priorities in defence technologies and manufacturing
capabilities. Other who spoke on the occasion included the Director General of
IDSA, Shri NS Sisodia and former Secretary (Defence Finance) Shri Vinod Misra. [MOD India Press Release].
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