Major Issues
As per the Times of India 04 Feb 08:“With India planning to spend another $30 billion that is almost Rs. 120,000 crore on arms imports by 2012, countries as well as global armament companies continue to jostle with each other to grab big pieces of the lucrative action.”Some of the major issues, (being raised in certain quarters), responsible for the delay in the implementation of the offset policies are :-
Perceived inability of the Indian defense industry to absorb the advantages of offset obligations,and meet the requirement of introducing indirect offsets, transfer of technology and offset banking.
It is a universally accepted fact that India has a vast pool of skilled manpower in all disciplines of sophisticated designing, testing, developing and manufacturing.
Indian Defense Industry and Offsets. The Indian defense industry consists of the DPSUs, manufacturing facilities of the OFB, nominated manufacturing facilities of large industrial houses and defense SMEs. These are selectively supported by the research and testing facilities of the DRDO. The loudest argument in some quarters that the Indian defense industry will not be able to deliver the offset obligations is not supported by the facts.
Regarding the DPSUs, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), with its corporate office in Bangluru and manufacturing facilities spread all over the country, will make a good case study for an objective assessment. A visit to one of these state-of-the-art facilities can be a heady experience for any Indian. This public sector undertaking, in the field of electronics, meets a very large part of the electronic and opto-electronic equipment needs of the three services and paramilitary forces besides providing some niche products in the civil markets such as electronic voting machines. A mere look at the mind boggling product range of this company along with its’ willingness and ability to absorb technologies and a well established research centre for in-house R &D should be capable to clear all the doubts till date regarding the ability of this DPSU to meet any products obligation. It might come as a surprise to some that BEL is being quietly wooed by scores of OEMs from all over the globe for joint ventures for the expressed purpose of meeting offset obligations. We have other DPSUs in the same class.
Another major contributor in the Indian armament industry is the Ordnance Factory Board with its’ 40 state-of-the-art Ordnance Factories. Their product range includes tanks, guns, small arms, vehicles and ammunition. There are factories to produce even clothing and parachutes. These world-class manufacturing facilities are quite capable to absorbing the technologies and manufacture of quality products. The presence of a captive market and bureaucratic controls has a hugely impacted on the quality of OFB products and its ability to innovate. To retain its’ pre-eminent position as a national resource with huge potential, OFB has the ability to deliver quality products in a market driven offset regime.
Please wait...
