49% FDI in defence favoured by Army, babus and DRDO
18 July 2013 12:32 AM GMT
The government’s decision to introduce 49 per cent FDI into defence on a ‘case by case’ basis is a necessity for the country’s access to cutting edge, high-tech field of defence manufacture. This has been argued over time by the top brass of armed forces, those bureaucratic officials who have worked on defence procurement and even the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
While the recently appointed director general (DG) of the DRDO, Dr Avinash Chander has still not declaimed on the issue, the previous DG, Dr VK Saraswat’s position on it remains the DRDO’s institutional position on the subject. Dr Saraswat was of the view that 49 per cent FDI in defence joint ventures could be welcome if it brings new technology in the arena.
Also, effectively the DRDO wants to be on the driver’s seat with the new entrants. They want themselves to be the vanguard at disseminating the technology down the line, that these foreign technologies are assimilated. The army brass wants the technology to provide them the best equipments at the domestic level.
While the recently appointed director general (DG) of the DRDO, Dr Avinash Chander has still not declaimed on the issue, the previous DG, Dr VK Saraswat’s position on it remains the DRDO’s institutional position on the subject. Dr Saraswat was of the view that 49 per cent FDI in defence joint ventures could be welcome if it brings new technology in the arena.
Also, effectively the DRDO wants to be on the driver’s seat with the new entrants. They want themselves to be the vanguard at disseminating the technology down the line, that these foreign technologies are assimilated. The army brass wants the technology to provide them the best equipments at the domestic level.
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