DEFENCE PROCUREMENT
Maj Gen P K Mallick,VSM (Retd)
I have a dream.
Our soldiers fighting CI Ops in J&K and in North East will wear light weight bullet proof
jackets and helmets and NOT the present heavy staff and the DRDO invented patkas.
My dream is triggered by a recent news item Army Plans to Field New Protective Vest,
Armored Shirt in 2019 available at http://strategicstudyindia.blogspot.in/2016/02/army-
plans-to-field-new-protective-vest.html
India continues to remain the world's largest arms importer, accounting for 14% of the
global imports in the 2011-2015 time frame, India spent a whopping Rs. 83,458.31 crore
on arms imports in a matter of three years ending 2013-14 The latest data on
international arms transfers released by a global think-tank, Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), also shows India's arms imports remain three times
greater than those of its rivals China and Pakistan. Its biggest suppliers are Russia, the
US, Israel and France. Russia accounts for 70% of our arms import. But the situation is
fast changing and US is fast grabbing the lucrative market. Russians also are exploiting
Pakis by offering them latest armed helicopters. After India, China ranks second in the
global arms import list with 4.7%, China used to top the imports chart earlier but has
gradually built a stronger DIB over the last couple of decades to even emerge as the
world's third largest arms exporter after the US and Russia. Incidentally, Pakistan is the
main recipient of Chinese arms exports, notching up 35% of the total, followed by
Bangladesh (20%) and Myanmar (16%). Russia, in turn, is China's largest arms supplier
with 59%, followed by France (15%) and Ukraine (14%). Noting that India's arms
exports has jumped by 90% between 2006-2010 and 2011-2015, SIPRI reiterated the
well-acknowledged fact that "a major reason for the high-level of imports is that the
Indian arms industry has so far largely failed to produce competitive indigenously-
designed weapons".
The present Govt quickly and rightly realised the best bet in Make in India initiative is
the defence sector. While this initiative is better than purchasing outright from foreign
vendors there are lot of issues. General Electric Co has won a $2.6 billion (nearly Rs
17,271.8 crore) contract to supply India's railways with 1,000 diesel locomotives. If GE
makes railway engine in India who benefits. Well, there will be some highly skilled
people who will get job in the most sophisticated and automated factories, there will be
some suppliers of small items and ancillaries, some people will give vehicles on rent
and all that. At least something will happen. The ratio of funds required and employment
generated is huge. It is going up and not going down in any hi tech manufacturing field.
It is the services which generates max employment. In the United States 70 percent of
the workforce works in the service sector; in Japan, 60 percent, and in Taiwan, 50
percent. United States employment as estimated in 2012, is divided into 79.7% in the
service sector, 19.2% in the manufacturing sector and 1.1% in the agriculture sector.
But larger issue is we have to design our own staff. Otherwise GE or its ilk will get all
the money using our cheap labour force making them as sweat shops workers. Who is
going to have the IPR. Are they going to transfer those rights. BIG NO. I am not clear on
many issues of defence acquisition.I am flagging these issues in following paragraphs.
We have nine DPSUs. 41 ordnance factories are spread across 26 different locations
and employ close to 1,25,000 people. A recent report tears into the Department of
