CII Communique - October, 2010

defenceRahul Chaudhary, Convenor, CII Defence Sub-Committee on R&D, Technology & Indigenisation, and CEO, Tata Power Strategic ElectronicsLtd,; Lt Gen AKS Chandele, PVSM, AVSM, ADC DGEME & Sr Col Comdt, Integrated Hqrs of MoD (Army); Lt Gen PC Bhardwaj, PVSM, AVSM,VrC, SC, VSM, Vice Chief of Army Staff, Integrated Hqrs of MoD (Army); Prof SC Saxena, Director, IIT, Rourkee; andD Sundaresh, Chief Controller, R&D (ACE), DRDOforces shared their requirements and capabilities.Industry also got to know what kind of products,particularly in refrigeration and air conditioning, fireextinguishers and chemical solvents, the armed forceswould be looking at in the coming years. Industry alsoshowcased what it can offer at present and what it isplanning to manufacture/produce in the future. Researchand Development organisations like DRDO also sharedtheir ongoing research to replace Ozone DepletingSubstances.‘Make’ and ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’DESPITE THE FACT that the Defence Sector hasbeen opened up for the private industry, defenceprocurement procedures are still very complicated andtime consuming. In order to encourage industry toactively participate in defence procurements, a workshopon Make and Buy & Make (Indian) was organised byCII and HQ Integrated Defence Staff PP & FD (WSOI)Division on 30 August in New Delhi.As a result of the consistent efforts of the CII and others,the Ministry of Defence, in 2009, created the provision of‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ in addition to the already existingthree main categories, namely ‘Buy,’ ‘Buy and Make’ and‘Make,’ to provide more and exclusive opportunities todomestic private industry.Under the ‘Buy & Make (Indian)’ category, a supplyorder will be placed only on capable Indian companieswho in turn will have to negotiate with interestedforeign companies for technical and other productionarrangements. The Ministry of Defence has also agreedto publicise the long term technical and equipmentrequirements of the armed forces. This has providedmore time and space to Indian companies to enhancetheir in-house R&D and production capabilities.Form the deliberations, the message that came loudand clear is that Indian industry is keen to contribute tothe country’s defence modernisation plans. Participationof the Indian private sector is not only important tosave foreign currency reserves that can be channelisedinto the equally important social sector but also tobuild up indigenised defence capabilities. India cannotafford to continue to rely on foreign companies as faras its critical and long term defence requirements areconcerned.Indian companies have created a niche in severalsectors, notably IT. Industry and defence forces personnelunanimously agree that the encouragement to the privatesector does not mean ignoring the capabilities andachievements of the PSUs and OFBs. There exists amplespace for both private and public sector companies toflourish in a healthy competitive environment.Cdr HS Jhajj, JDNP (Acqn); Chandrika Kaushik, AD (DISB) ; Cdre S Govind; Vice Admiral (Retd) Raman Puri, PVSM, AVSM, VSM;Brig Bishamber Dayal, VSM, DDG WE-1; and Col (Retd) RS Bhatia, Executive Vice President, CEO Bharat Forge LtdCommuniqué October 2010 | 29