Antony, who looks more confident in his second term as the Defence minister, said the government would not hesitate to ruthlessly cancel contracts, if malpractices are found in any acquisition. He was talking to reporters after addressing a defence industry meet organised by the CII and FICCI.
“I can tell my industry friends, who have close contact with suppliers and are collaborating with foreign firms and manufacturers that they should not try and bribe our people…. They will face the consequences, also the officers and manufacturers will face action,” said Antony, who in the past has made radical changes in the defence procurement system.
Earlier, the Defence Minister deviated from the prepared text at the inauguration of DEFCOM India - 2009 saying the government has consciously taken a decision to minimise the country’s dependence on import of defence systems. He also agreed that more products should be sourced on the basis of ‘buy and make’ rather than ‘buy’ category alone.
He lamented that nearly 70 per cent of the defence weaponry is still being imported. The Indian defence industry is picking up as the ministry has made it mandatory for foreign companies to plough back a certain degree of investment by transferring technology within India.
During Antony's previous tenure as Defence Minister, the government had cancelled at least two defence deals, including the Eurocopter --- light utility helicopter deal last year after some malpractices were detected by the manufacturer.
Antony said the turbulence in our immediate neighbourhood makes the political stability in our country even more important. He said the need to modernise the forces in the face of asymmetric and unconventional means of warfare cannot be overemphasised.
Referring to the new challenges before the armed forces, the Minister said it is neither possible nor feasible to have equipment and systems on stand-by for all conceivable variants of modern military conflicts.
