The Hindu Business Line : No middlemen to be allowed in defence deals: Pranab

The Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, flanked by the FICCI President, Mr Saroj K. Poddar (left), and the FICCI Secretary-General, Dr Amit Mitra, at a seminar on `Defence procurement procedure - Creating new public-private partnerships in defence procurement' in the Capital on Tuesday. - Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Oct. 24

The Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, on Tuesday said that the Government would not allow any middlemen in defence deals.

"There is a ban on middlemen in defence deals. Besides, now we have also stipulated that an integrity pact be signed for all contracts above Rs 100 crore," the Minister said.

Delivering the inaugural address at a seminar on `Defence procurement procedure (DPP) 2006 - Creating new public-private partnership', Mr Mukherjee said though agents could register with the Government, not many people had come to forward to register as yet.

The Minister said that it was the Government's desire to see that as defence expenditure grows, Indian industry and society benefits from the spin offs of such growth and added that in DPP 2006, for the first time the Make procedure had been introduced.

"This is most important change that we have made in DPP 2006. It is aimed at harnessing the inherent capability of the fast-growing technical and managerial prowess of the domestic industry for the security interest of the nation. The changes brought by the procedure have opened up immense opportunities for the Indian industry at a time when our economy is growing," Mr Mukherjee said.

The Government, he added, was convinced that the requisite levels of skills and expertise are available in Indian industry to undertake the production of sophisticated defence equipment. "What we seek to achieve is synergy between Government bodies and private industry to strengthen the defence base of our nation," he added.

The seminar had been organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Outlining the opportunities available under the Make procedure, the Minister said the low technology mature systems have been categorised `buy Indian' and would have a minimum of 50 per cent indigenous content. "This would provide great opportunities to Indian industry to even use the existing level of technology to achieve the mandatory 50 per cent indigenous content," he said.

Besides, the `high technology complex system' was also significant because it provides vast opportunities for public-private participation and also room for individual initiative of the private industry. "The procedure aims at harnessing indigenous research, design and development of capabilities required for our armed forces," he said.