Remove bottlenecks in defence offset and procurement: CII

A leading industrial body on tuesday said that defence orders should roll out to energise the domestic defence industrial base and sought expeditious defence offset contracts.Sujith Haridas, Deputy Director General, CII said that there is a need to de-bottleneck issues relating to defence offset and procurement. He "mentioned that to energise the defence industrial base, defence orders should roll out"."There is a need to de-bottleneck issues related to defence offset and defence procurement. There exist huge potential for the Indian defence industry if the defence offset contracts can be expedited," a CII statement quoted Haridas as saying.He was speaking at the '10th International Conference on Energising Indian Aerospace Industry: A Road Ahead', jointly organised by CII and Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) in association with the Indian Air Force here.Air Marshal Sukhchain Singh, Air Officer In-Charge Maintenance at the Indian Air Force said Indian aerospace industry must strive to become a part of global aerospace industry, focusing on quality, competitiveness and innovation, failing which it will only be a peripheral player.He said IAF is poised to become a multi-spectrum Air Force with force multipliers and space based assets. He added that major modernisation initiatives in the Indian Armed Forces and growth in commercial aerospace sector has fuelled the growth of Indian aerospace industry.Futuristic technologies in aviation such as increased use of composites, modern engine technology, all weather capabilities and so on are being adopted, and for achieving this goal, it is important to focus on design and development of requisite equipment in house, he said.Indian companies need to develop capabilities and capacities to meet such demands. They need to focus not only on wealth creation and job opportunities but in nation building process and supporting the armed forces, he said."Indian aerospace industry must strive to become a part of global aerospace industry, focusing on quality, competitiveness and innovation, failing which it will only be a peripheral player," he added.Dhirendra Singh, Former Home Secretary and Chairman of the Committee of Experts to review Defence Procurement Procedure and Suggest Framework for Make in India, said that the ongoing initiative of MoD in defence procurement and acquisition policy would definitely make huge impact on the defence manufacturing sector.He further mentioned that better synergy among the various departments of the Ministry of Defence would make the entire system more efficient thereby resolving several existing issues.