Need to develop IPR in aerospace sector: Vice Chief of IAF

New Delhi: India is "lazy" in developing intellectual property rights in the aerospace sector and will be at the mercy of foreign manufacturers if it does not work on indigenous technologies, a top Air Force official said on Thursday.

S B Deo, Vice Chief of the Air Force, said the newly launched strategic partnership model is a step forward in this direction.

"India is lazy in developing. You have no choice, but to generate intellectual property rights here. If you don't generate IPR, you are doomed to 'built to print' and you are at their mercy," Deo said.

Under the built to print process, manufacturers have been making equipment or components as per the designs provided to them, which according to critics does not allow technology absorption and innovation in the country.

Deo lamented the contradiction that India manufactures fighter jets helicopters, but has to import UAVs (Unmanned Ariel Vehicles).

He was speaking at a conference on Energising Indian Aerospace Industry: Gathering Momentum by the Air Force, CII and Centre for Air Power Studies. "The quicker we dispense this built to print idea, the quicker we start generating IPR in India, the better it will be. The only way to sustain the momentum is to start manufacturing here," he said.

Deo noted that creating IPR will open Indian companies a door to the outside world.

Highlighting the problems in developing IPRs within the country, Deo pointed out that the expertise of retired Air Force officers in avionics is not used properly by the industry.

Instead, they are hired by private defence agencies and used for "fixing appointments" in the defence ministry, he lamented.