CDS lashes out at defence companies: 'Show a bit of patriotism'

NEW DELHI: Flagging concerns that Indian arms companies were failing to deliver emergency procurements on time and that some of them were even inflating the extent of indigenous content in their products, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan has said the armed forces expect "a bit of nationalism and patriotism" in industry's "profit-driven endeavours".

"Defence reforms are not a one-way street. (Domestic) industries will have to be truthful about their indigenous capabilities to us. You cannot leave us in the lurch. When you sign a contract and don't deliver in that particular time frame, it is a capability that is being lost," CDS said at a USI seminar on Friday. CDS said Army had told him "most" of the Indian companies had "over-promised things" and failed to deliver in specified time-frames during 5th and 6th phases of the emergency procurements mechanism. tnn


CDS said "most" of the Indian companies have "over-promised things" and failed to deliver in specified time-frames.

"This is unacceptable," he said. The EP mechanism empowers the armed forces to fast-track contracts, each worth Rs 300 crore that have to be executed within a year, instead of following the normal long-winded procurement procedure.

After EP-5 last year, which was reserved exclusively for domestic companies, the defence ministry had approved EP-6.

This came following the cross-border hostilities with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor in May.

It will help the Army, Indian Air Force and Navy to build as well as replenish their stockpiles of missiles and other long-range weapons, loiter and precision-guided munitions, kamikaze drones and counter-drone systems, among other weapons and ammunition, through both foreign and domestic sources.

Amid allegations that many domestic companies are merely assembling systems after importing them, instead of manufacturing them, Gen Anil Chauhan said, "A lot of industries say this (a product) is 70% indigenous, but actually, if you find out, it is not. You have to be truthful about this. Because it is related to matters of security."

The Chief of Defence Staff also criticised the overpricing of weapon systems and platforms.

"You will have to be cost-competitive. Cost competitiveness is not for selling to the Indian armed forces. You have to be cost-competitive to compete in the foreign market. You can't have products which are overpriced," Gen Chauhan said.

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