The changing and growing security scenario with an expanding economic zone makes India one of the largest arms importer. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has told Parliament that the total expenditure on “direct payments to foreign vendors for capital acquisitions” for the Army, Navy and IAF during the last five years stood at Rs 1,03,535 crore ($16.72 billion). In the face of the figures the Modi government’s rhetoric on the “Make in India” policy with greater private sector participation in the defence production sector will take several years to materialise on the ground. In sharp contrast, China has emerged as the fastest growing arms exporter around the globe after assiduously building a strong Defence Industrial Base (DIB). It’s now hawking fighter jets, warships, missiles and smaller arms to countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Bolivia and Zambia. Most of the Indian projects have fallen to huge time and cost overruns. While the indigenous development of Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, main battle tank Arjun and other weapon systems is certainly to be cheered, the high import content in them remains another source of worry with cost escalations. There is no concrete long-term planning to systemically build military capabilities, with the three services continuing to squabble over the limited budgetary allocation. Consequently, the armed forces continue to grapple with huge deficiencies in submarines, fighters, helicopters, artillery, air defence weapons, night-fight capabilities and the like. The battle has to be fought on two fronts. A radical overhaul of the functioning of DRDO, defence PSUs, Ordnance Factory Board and shipyards is needed to ensure they can deliver cutting-edge technology in a cost-effective manner. Alongside, the private sector has to be encouraged to enter defence production with sweeping systemic reforms then only Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of exporting weapons in a major way, instead of importing them in large numbers, will become a reality.
