Antony to Defence PSUs: Shape up for global competition

He added, “The government can support you up to a point but you must fulfil your promise to deliver or no one can help you in this era of competition. At the same time, those at the top must innovate or they will not be able to retain their position. There is always scope for improvement.”

Speaking in the context of the new offset clause for procurements over Rs 300 crore, Antony warned, “Unless you spend more on R&D, you will not be able to take advantage of the technology that will flow into the country from offsets. This will be a tragic loss to the nation.”

Indicating that Defence public sector undertakings and ordnance factories had high-end technologies, Antony said, “Exchange of information and pooling of technological resources will ensure better utilisation of assets and bring about a qualitative improvement in products. It will also avoid duplication of efforts and give more value for the money invested.”

Speaking of the new external and independent committee created to audit DRDO, first reported by The Indian Express earlier this month, Antony said, “In medium and low technology areas, DRDO should share its workload to the extent possible with the industry. There is a need to improve interaction between DRDO labs and production agencies, so that R&D efforts get the desired momentum and the proper direction.”

Defence PSUs, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited have been recommended for the status of Nav Ratna PSU — the two were among those which won excellence awards from the Defence Minister earlier in the morning.