New Delhi: Upset at the “tendency to overpromise and underdeliver”, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has sounded a warning to the defence industry—deliver in time or the contract will be foreclosed.
He said the new process will be implemented in emergency procurements being done by the armed forces under which delivery has to be completed within a year of signing the contract.
His comments came just days after Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan lamented delayed deliveries.
Addressing a seminar of the Indian defence industry, he had said, “We expect a bit of nationalism and patriotism in your profit-driven endeavours. I am given to understand… actually the Army was telling me that they were scouting for 5th and 6th EP procurements, most of the people have over-promised things and they have failed to deliver in that time frame.”
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‘Delays not only by domestic firms’
Speaking at a Defence conclave organised by news agency ANI, Defence Secretary Singh took a practical view of the situation. “The delays are not only by domestic manufacturers. You’ve seen the S-400s getting delayed due to conflicts. Israel’s orders are also delayed due to the conflicts it is facing. There are supply chain issues with the general electric engines. All of it is not solely attributable to domestic manufacturers. But, there is a tendency to overpromise and underdeliver,” he said.
He said the ministry needs to be cracking down more and imposing higher LD costs (Liquidated Damages), which are a pre-determined sum specified in a contract that one party must pay to the other in the event of a specific breach, typically for delays in project completion.
“In the current round of emergency procurement, we have actually taken a very tough stand that any case where delivery is not done within one year, it will all be foreclosed. I seek to ensure that it is done, irrespective of who it is, which company or which country, we will foreclose every contract after one year.
“Those types of decisions will bring in some sort of accountability when it comes to delivery milestones,” he said.
Jet engine production
Singh also spoke about the planned jet engine development to power India’s next generation of fighters.
“We are in the process of finalising our program with a leading international engine house to co-develop a 120KN jet engine entirely domestically produced with full IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) to be held in India. That is hopefully going to go to the top level in government soon…that will happen but it will take around 10-12 years,” he said.
While the defence secretary did not reveal the name of the country, India has decided to join hands with France under a government-to-government deal to jointly design and manufacture a new 120 KN engine for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft that New Delhi is aspiring for by 2035.
In an X post in August, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh wrote, “We are about to start engine manufacturing work in India with the French company Safran.”
The engine programme is part of the Horizon 2047 document for the India-France strategic partnership. Incidentally, 2026 is to be celebrated as an year of innovation by India and France.
Sources in the defence and security establishment said that while talks have been ongoing between India and France over this, New Delhi has now decided to go in with Safran, which was the frontrunner to bag the contract, as reported by ThePrint multiple times before.
Similarly, on the Kaveri engine project, while the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has not been able to reach the required parameters, they are looking to use the engines in the Unmanned-Combat Aerial Vehicle (U-CAV), which could then be licenced too, the defence secretary said.
He added that multiple Indian companies have already participated in the U-CAV tender.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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