India to establish new defence procurement policy

India is poised for major policy changes in the defence sector with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) set to announce the first ever defence production policy, incorporating major changes in the procurement policy. "In 2011, from January onwards we hope to introduce the new Defence Production Policy as well as the Defence Procurement Policy.  This means we are going to take some drastic steps to achieve our goal of speedy self-reliance," Defence Minister A K Antony announced this week. 

He envisaged a strong defence industrial base for India, saying the country cannot indefinitely depend on foreign suppliers At the moment, India imports 65-70 per cent of defence equipment. He said, “Since the public sector undertakings (PSUs), would not be able to meet the requirements, the government is formulating a new policy.” Arguing that there was a plenty of space and opportunity for the public and the private sector to coexist and thrive, he assured the PSUs and ordinance factories (OFs) full financial support to prepare for competition.

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