By Harish Gupta
NEW DELHI: India has spent a whopping amount close to Rs two lakh crore on defence purchases in past three years alone, the government said in parliament on Wednesday.
Besides, the UPA government is closely watching all activities of China and Pakistan in the neighbourhood and reviews the threat perception regularly. Required measures have been initiated through development of infrastructure, including rail, roads and forward airfields as well as operational capabilities to achieve desired defence preparedness through accretion and modernization and deployment of forces to safeguard the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of India.
Both these statements were made by Defence Minister AK Antony during the Question Hour on Wednesday, the former in the Rajya Sabha and the latter in the Lok Sabha.
The total expenditure on defence purchases by India during the past three years (Revenue and Capital) was Rs.197123.76 crore, Antony said in written reply to N.K. Singh in the Rajya Sabha. This includes procurement made from Indian private sector, public sector undertakings, ordnance factories and foreign sources. The accounting system does not separately capture data regarding defence purchases made from the Indian private sector.
There has been a major thrust on indigenous manufacture of defence equipment through collaborative efforts of Defence Research and Development Organisation, Defence Public Sector Undertakings, Ordnance Factory Board and Indian Private Sector. Defence industry was opened up for Indian private sector participation in May 2001, with FDI upto 26% subject to licensing. With a view to achieve greater self-reliance in defence production, government has announced a defence production policy in January 2011. Besides, the government has included a categorization “Buy and Make (Indian)” in the Defence Procurement Procedure in November 2009 to encourage indigenous production in the country.
