The Hindu : Blow to indigenisation drive: Cong.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 08, 2002

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Blow to indigenisation drive: Cong.

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI DEC. 7. Questions have been raised about two weapon purchases planned from the United States and France. While the French proposal for submarines would be a blow to self-reliance, delay in purchasing weapon-locating radars would leave the Army exposed to Pakistani artillery fire.

The move to assemble six submarines of French origin has been opposed because it is not only expensive, but also affects the indigenisation drive, the Congress leader, Eduardo Faleiro, said.

A high-level delegation, headed by the Defence Secretary, Subir Datta, held talks on the subject in Paris recently and the Chief of Naval Staff, Madhvendra Singh, had earlier this week said a formal nod from the Government was awaited.

Mr. Faleiro said the ambitious "30-year submarine building plan'' was intended to beat the "de facto'' submarine technology control regime as well as revive building activity at the Mazagaon docks so that "we become a genuine submarine building nation.''

The proposal was to build 20 submarines for about Rs. 15,000 crores by 2025.

The transfer of required technology was obtained from the German design group, HDW. On the basis of this technology and with modifications made by the Indian Navy's submarine design bureau, the indigenous submarine design, Project 75, was finalised in 1997-98. Detailed techno-economic discussions also took place between the Navy and companies such as BHEL and Larsen and Toubro.

However, the Defence Ministry has now decided to approach the Cabinet Committee on Security with a proposal to purchase six Scorpene class submarines in semi-knocked down (SKD) or completely knocked down (CKD) forms. The deal may cost about Rs. 12,500 crores, which Mr. Faleiro says is too expensive as compared to earlier plans of making 20 subs for Rs. 15,000 crores.

"The Government must disclose the reasons for the Scorpene deal as also inform Parliament as to the status of the indigenous project of submarine building,'' he said.

In the second case, the Government has been forced to lease second-hand radars from the U.S. Army as an interim measure because of a delay in the procurement process.

The armed forces have thus been deprived of a vital equipment which has increased their vulnerability to Pakistan's fire power.

More galling is the fact that the Pakistan Army has possessed similar radars since 1996 whereas the Indian Army has been waiting for years for the equipment, which can accurately pinpoint the location of enemy artillery guns.

Had it not been for the Kargil war, the heavy casualties suffered from Pakistani artillery and the persistence of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, the proposal might well have been shelved. This issue has been mentioned in as many as five parliamentary committee reports.

The purchase of this equipment of critical importance was "unnecessarily delayed in various and different kinds of legal hassles.''

In the process, the Government, by design or unwillingly, completely eliminated the possibility of considering a cheaper alternative from the Ukraine.

On the issue of weapon locating radars (WLRs), a recent report noted that price negotiations for the Ukrainian company, Ukrspetsexport's Iskara WLR, were suspended on July 2000 due to an inquiry by the CBI even though the Army had tested the radar and the Defence Ministry had recommended that it could be bought.

The Iskara was Rs. 20 crores cheaper than a comparative radar, offered by the American company, Raytheon.

With the process to buy Iskara radar embroiled in controversy, the Army was fortunate that the U.S. lifted the sanctions and both the Governments signed a deal to buy eight radars from Raytheon Corporation. However, these radars will be supplied only from July 2004.

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