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Reliance Group chairman, Anil Ambani has asked the Centre to set up a sovereign defence fund on a PPP model.
Making a presentation during the investors conference at the Aero India here, he said the government should hold 49 per cent while private defence sector players should make up the balance, with no player contributing more than 5 per cent of the total.
He said such a professionally managed fund can help invest in long-gestation R&D projects and facilitate strategic global acquisitions in key technology areas of defence and national security. “We need to accord infrastructure industry status to aerospace, thereby paving the way for easier credit and a greater role and opportunity for the private sector.” He said India’s defence sector is hamstrung by the fear of regulatory censure and investigative over reach. “The long shadow of the 3 Cs – CBI, CVC and CAG – is leading to a lack of initiative and decision making at all levels of the government. This needs to change and we need to have the two C’s – Courage and Conviction.”
Ambani whose company has recently forayed into defence production, said he met the PM soon after he assumed office. “At one point he said, ‘Anil, do you know, that even the tears we shed in this country are not our own? Every tear gas shell that is used by our security agencies is actually imported!’”
He pointed out that it was an eye-opener for him at many levels: In terms of the sheer magnitude of the task that lies ahead; In terms of the PM’s absolute clarity of vision and, most importantly, in terms of his personal commitment to put India at the forefront of defence manufacturing.
Ambani said warfare in our age is won by technology, information systems and the quality of weaponry and almost all the submarines currently operated by the Indian Navy are past their operational life, while the Indian Air Force flies the MiG-21 aircraft of the 1970s vintage.
As regards defence manufacturing, while India seeks a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, and is projected to be the world’s largest economy by 2024, “we are, unlike most other major powers in the world, a net importer of defence equipment.”
He said being safe, cautious and indecisive in decision making has led to the Armed Forces facing the consequences; suffering with poor equipment. This is truly a travesty. “Our record in the aerospace industry, unlike, say space or nuclear technology, is nothing to be proud of.”
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