New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday made a strong case for locally designed and developed defence weapons that are unique in nature and tailor-made to suit the country’s defence requirement, saying that a strong indigenous defence industry will solve the problem of controversies associated with every defence purchase from abroad as they were often a result of rivalries between defence companies.
Addressing a webinar on how the Budget will help further self-reliance in the defence sector, Prime Minister Modi said people are familiar with what kind of competition has been there in the defence sector.
“Often all kinds of allegations were labeled when defence equipment were purchased from foreign companies. I don't want to dwell deeper in the issue but it is true that every purchase led to controversies,” the Prime Minister told the audience.
Prime Minister Modi there has always been a continuous campaign to malign the defence equipment produced by others due to the competition between different defence companies.
“A lot of confusion is also created about which weapon is good and which is bad, which weapon is useful and which is not. It is done in a very planned manner. It is part of the rivalry in the corporate world,” said the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Modi said such things lead to confusion and apprehensions and also opens the door for corruption.
“Atma Nirbhar Bharat campaign provides the solution for several such problems,” observed the Prime Minister.
Allegation of corruption and use of middlemen in the defence equipments purchased from abroad have often created
huge controversies in the country. The Congress lost election in 1989 as then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s government was accused of corruption in the purchase of Howitzers from Swedish company Bofors.
Similarly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government cancelled the tender for procurement of AgustaWestland VVIP helicopters from Italian defence company Leonardo.
Prime Minister Modi’s decision to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from French company Dassault Aviation in a government-to-government deal led to huge controversy in India as the Congress and other opposition parties accused the government of favouring businessman Anil Ambani in awarding the sub-contracts under the deal.
The matter which reached the top court of the country was a huge poll issue in the last general elections held in 2019.
Budget contains blueprint for self-reliance in defence
The Prime Minister said the budget for the next year contained the blueprint for development of research and design within the country.
“Nearly 70% of the budget has been kept for the domestic defence industry so that domestic design and research can be developed. The Defence Ministry has so far released the list of more than 200 defence platforms and equipment for positive indigenisation. And contracts worth Rs 54,000 crore have already been signed,” he said.
The Prime Minister said the process for procurement of defence equipment worth over Rs 4.5 lakh crore was in different stages of approval.
