India's Defence Procurement Policy: A Call for Pragmatic Solutions

Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh emphasized India's ample resources for addressing fighter aircraft needs. Despite an underutilized defence budget, Singh highlighted broken procurement processes and the country's economic growth. He called for prioritizing pragmatic solutions to reform the acquisition procedures within the next year.

In a significant address on Tuesday, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh dismissed concerns over financial limitations in meeting India's fighter aircraft needs, emphasizing that the nation has sufficient resources. Speaking on procurement procedures, Singh acknowledged flaws in the current system and committed to addressing them within six months to a year.

Highlighting India's economic achievements, Singh remarked on the rapid pace of GDP growth, noting, 'We will soon reach the $4 trillion mark.' He refuted the idea of resource scarcity and stressed the importance of pragmatic, prioritized solutions, particularly in the aerospace sector, during his speech at the 21st Subroto Mukherjee seminar.

Despite India's defence budget being only 1.9 to 2 percent of the GDP, Singh revealed that a significant portion of allocated funds remains unspent. He cited outdated procurement policies as a major hurdle and called for timely reforms, including improving RFP preparation and addressing excessive 'goldplating' of requirements.

(With inputs from agencies.)