Indigenisation the only way forward- G.Raj Narayan

The success of the indigenously developed Mars Orbiter Mission of ISRO has takeneveryone by surprise, more so because it was achieved at a tenth of the cost of similarprojects abroad. The fact that India is the only country to have achieved success in itsmaiden attempt at Mars, makes this even more creditable. Do these facts not provideenough proof of the technical competence of our engineers and scientists?

“While a problem in aspace program onlycauses a disappointingdelay, the same in thedefence sector couldbecome a critical factorin the security of thecountry”.

If one concedes this fact, it is evident that we also havethe capability to design and produce our own state of theart military equipment and aircraft.

A commonly attributed reason to the low cost of the Marsmission is that Indian manpower is far less expensive thanin many other countries. However, a lesser known factcontributing to the success is that many sub-assembliesand parts were outsourced to private companies, includingMSMEs. This resulted in a synergy that saved time, moneyand effort.

However, the difference between space projects and defence equipment is that the latterare strategic and crucial. Any problem in the smallest part – either lack of supply orproblem in performance, becomes critical. While a problem in a space program onlycauses a disappointing delay, the same in the defence sector could become a criticalfactor in the security of the country. This is why indigenisation forms the core ofestablishing a strong and reliable military capability to counter any threat.

What is indigenisation? The capability to design, develop and manufacture equipmentwithin the country, using our own skills and resources, constitutes indigenisation. Thecapability to maintain and repair these, as well as equipment sourced from abroad,makes us self-reliant.

Not depending on foreign suppliers for anything, makes us self-sufficient. Since weattained independence, we have depended on foreign suppliers for our defencerequirements. Irrespective of West or East, we have suffered due to supplier pressures –denial of spares for political reasons, high cost of spares, delays and lack of transparencyin technology transfer, etc.

“By not taking proactive steps toward indigenisation in the early years, by constantly ignoring the warning signs of equipment repeatedly failing over many years, we have reached an alarming situation today where the armed forces are left with obsolete and failure-prone equipment”.

By not taking proactive steps toward indigenisation in theearly years, by constantly ignoring the warning signs ofequipment repeatedly failing over many years, we havereached an alarming situation today where the armedforces are left with obsolete and failure-prone equipment.

A combination of factors is responsible for this situation –the manufacturer (the PSUs in this case) developedaircraft, battle tanks, etc. with the limited technology attheir disposal.

However, the armed forces had a mistaken perception that ‘only the best with the latesttechnology’ would be good enough to effectively thwart the enemy (in spite of the lowlyGnat fighter aircraft comprehensively defeating the so-called ‘superior’ Sabre jets andStarfighter in the 1965 and 1971 wars).

They were unwilling to accept the indigenously developed products. This in turn led to astand-off and ultimately a de-motivation of the industry. On the other hand, the industrytoo, did not put in sufficient efforts to assimilate technology from licensed projects andleap-frog to the contemporary state of the art.

For example, the MiG-21 aircraft, that was manufactured under license from the USSRsince the mid-60’s did not lead to either sufficient transfer or assimilation of technologyof its systems and sub-systems. HAL continued to import and use a large number of sub-systems and parts over decades without any efforts at indigenisation or reverse-engineering.

In another case, significant disruptions were caused in the maintenance of the AN-32aircraft due to the break-up of the Soviet Union. This could have been avoided ifindigenisation of the majority of parts, sub-systems and equipment of these aircraft wereinitiated simultaneously with the induction of the aircraft into the air force.

“…lack of clarity in the rules and implementation of offset guidelines have been impediments in the successful establishment of offset partnerships”.

Such indigenisation efforts would also ensure a sizeablequantum of business to the local industry over the entirelife-cycle of the aircraft and ensure timely supportespecially at the end of life.

The PSUs and armed services are still sending manyequipment and their sub-systems to the OEMs abroad forrepairs, incurring huge cost in foreign exchange. A viablealternative would be to encourage qualified MSMEs toundertake such repairs. This would provide an opportunityto the Indian industry to familiarize itself with thetechnology as well as find innovative, cost-effective andindigenous solutions.

Radel Advanced Technology, Bangalore, has already demonstrated the feasibility of thismodel by repairing some of the electronic modules used on the Jaguar aircraft. Theprocess of undertaking repairs also provides a very effective stepping stone forindigenous design and development of products.

The Kelkar Committee on review of Defence Procurement Procedure has recommendedan integrated approach involving Users, Ministry of Defence and the Industry. TheCommittee recommended that DRDO should concentrate on projects requiringsophisticated technology of strategic, complex and security-sensitive nature.

“The defense offsets policy of the GoI, where a foreign vendor has to mandatorily procure 30% of his order value from Indian sources, is expected to provide an opportunity for indigenization of parts and assemblies”.

However, R&D for high technology that is not security-sensitive, should be outsourced to private sector withshared cost. Further, a minimum order quantity is alsorecommended, to sustain the financial viability of thedevelopment effort.

However, lack of clarity in the rules and implementation ofoffset guidelines have been impediments in the successfulestablishment of offset partnerships.

The Government needs to act quickly to address this issue. Combinations of all thesemeasures are required for the successful implementation of indigenization programmesacross the defense sector, which are well within the reach of Indian industry.

This article originally appeared on IndianDefenceReview