Recently the private sector appears to have caught the fancy of making forays into the specialised production of Defence ammunition hardware and equipments, through media campaigns making irrational and baseless allegations against the Defence Public Sector Units (DPSU)and the Indian Ordnance Factories (India Inc Nowhere, The India Today, February 26, 2007)..The genesis of having DPSUs and the Indian Ordnance Factories , which form an integrated base for indigenous production of Defence Hardware and equipments in India, under the government control was to achieve self-reliance in Defence production by Independent India. The private sector claims of competency in the Defence production appear to be a tall one, if not a hum bug, considering their experience and the belated entry into this field. Defence production demands high level of specialisation, complex production process, poses unique technological challenges, close tolerances and high accuracy for manufacturing and testing the highly sensitive and hazardous hardware and equipments.
There is little sense in calling the DPSUs names like “screw-driver monkeys” for indigenising the foreign technical know-how as the very private sector is expected to borrow the foreign technology and sell it to the Indian armed forces at a high premium after neatly pocketing a hefty profit. These private companies may even bargain with the government during the exigencies of time in future for more profit if the supply chain of the ammunition hardware and equipments is monopolistically controlled by them. The DPSUs and the Indian Ordnance Factories have been doing an unenviable job in a very satisfactory manner in meeting the voluminous requirements and quality benchmarks of the armed forces with the limited resources within the tight rigmarole set by the government to safeguard the exchequer. Whenever the external security of the Republic was under attack from the neighbour, the DPSUs and the Indian Ordnance Factories were always in the forefront to meet the emergency supplies at a short notice at the same cost within a record time without compromising on the quality.
As far as the Defence preparedness is concerned, the state PSUs are far ahead of their private sector counterparts who have neither the technical know-how presently nor the noble intention and inclination to serve the nation without extra profit considerations and an assured market. They seem to have been driven by the primary motto of carving out a share in the demand pie and ensure a share of their profit in the estimated Rs 36,000 Crores Defence spending over the next decade.
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Lets not forget that India is not free from the clutches of destabiling factors operating within and outside the country. The time is not fully ripe for the outright opening of defence production activities to the private sectors.
The Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) and the Indian Ordnance Factores (IOFs) are the pillars of Indian defence production and supply network. These institutions have stood the test of times and has proved its reliability to the needs of the defence forces. The undeclared Kargil conflict will vouchsafe.
The primary objective of any private enterprise is profit. Any contribution of the private sector for the social well being is also with the vision of future goodwill. As such, the private enterprises though capable on technological and financial front cannot be fully entrusted the security of the nation. Private participation in the defence of the country is welcome, but on supplementary basis. Let the corporate giants contribute their might for the defence hardware needs and help to reinforce the strong foundation of the departmentally controlled defence industry.
No patriotic Indian should digest the belittling of the DPSU and the IOFs. The Indian Constitution is still on the strong foundation of a Sovereign Socialist Democratic Republic.
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