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India moots weapons tie-up ventures with Vietnam, Poland

Our Bureau

CHENNAI, April 22

INDIA has mooted the forming of joint ventures with Vietnam and Poland to manufacture arms and other military equipment, and tap the large export market, according to the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes.

The arms could be sold to South-East Asian, South Asian and African countries, where there is a large weapons market, he said while speaking at a seminar on `Acceleration of defence production through joint sector' on Saturday.

The day-long seminar and exhibition was organised by the Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association.

During his recent visit to Vietnam, he was asked by that Government whether India would be able to help it in overhaul of military equipment and procuring of components.

Likewise, he had broached the idea during the recent visit of a Polish Minister to India. ``I believe we can produce not only for ourselves but also for our friends,'' he said.

Mr. Fernandes pointed out that India had not developed a weapons market while it chose to import weapons. Arms import is a lucrative business while export is not.

``Because of concerns other than national security, if people create a situation where we have to always import, then it is not in the national interest.'' The Minister emphasised the need to indigenise production and export to friendly countries.

Addressing newspersons, he wondered why India should always remain an arms importer. ``There are areas where India could produce at much cheaper prices. Also, the cost of spares is mind-boggling; this is another area that could be looked into.''

A whole range of arms and military equipment, including advanced light helicopters, could be manufactured and exported to friendly countries.

While the Indian private sector is not involved in defence production, the country purchases its military requirement from the foreign private sector.

``Even after so many years of Independence, we keep looking at Indians with suspicion and trust the white man. There is something wrong.''

Mr. Fernandes expressed the need for a consortium involving a couple of large private sector companies, alongwith the defence production units, to tap the huge weapons market.

The defence production units are not geared to marketing abroad, and this expertise could be provided by the private sector.

He regretted that even two years after initiating a move to involve the private sector in a big way in defence production, things were moving slowly.

Mr. Prabir Sengupta, Secretary, Defence Production, said that the small-scale and tiny sectors would have tremendous opportunities to supply to the defence production units, as the total turnover of ordnance factories and public sector defence production units is expected to go up from Rs. 12,000 crores last year to around Rs. 25,000 crores by the end of the Tenth Plan.

Besides, public sector defence units are expected to outsource nearly 25 per cent of the total value of production in the next 5-7 years. To tap this huge market, the small-scale units need to be extremely quality conscious.

Mr. A. Balraj, Chairman and Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation, pleaded for purchase preference for small-scale units.

Mr. M.S. Parthasarathy, President, National Confederation of Small Industry, said that small-scale units in the country had the capability to cater to the defence sector but needed assistance in the form of easy availability of funds and transfer of tech nology.