During the presentation made to the Feasibility Study Committee on 11 Feb 2009, a Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) announced that it had executed orders worth 4,100 crore rupees during the previous financial year. Further, it claimed that it was the sole enterprise which could undertake Tactical Communications System as it had already executed many projects for the services successfully. Two questions were posed to the DPSU. Questions and written replies provided by the said DPSU are tabulated below:
Delivery dates and costs have no sanctity as regards the public sector. Being part of the Ministry of Defence, it dictates terms to the powerless services. Notwithstanding the high sounding claims made by the public sector in their publicity material, almost all projects undertaken by them have seen massive time and cost overruns. Unfortunately, things continue to drift in the same manner even now and the services continue to suffer. As seen above, the DPSU’s reluctance to reply to simple questions displays a distinct sense of insecurity.
Interestingly, the said DPSU’s mission statement on its website reads, “To be a customer focussed, globally competitive company in defence electronics and in other chosen areas of professional electronics, through quality, technology and innovation.” While claiming aspirations to be globally competitive, it lacks confidence to face competition even from Indian companies and resorts to unfair practices to grab business for survival.