Rudely rocked by the pitched and brutal fistfight between Indian and Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan valley on June 15, 2020, India’s security establishment had unleashed a slew of reformative measures to ensure military preparedness. Among the measures announced in July 2020 was a process of Emergency Procurement (EP).
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The primary objective of EP—for a specific period of time—was to plug critical operational gaps, especially along the northern borders. It included waivers to the already existing Fast Track Procedure (FTP) for the acquisition of new weapon systems, equipment, and the development of military infrastructure.
As per the defence ministry’s apex procurement panel, the Defence Acquisition Council, the contracts were to be concluded by December 2020 and deliveries completed by December 2021.
However, a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that audited the contracts that were laid down in Parliament has brought to light the delays in the procurement of military hardware.
The CAG report said, “Out of the contracts examined in audit, delivery was completed within one year of signing of the contract in only 28 per cent cases.”
It added, “In 72 per cent of the contracts examined in audit, items were not delivered within the stipulated timeline, thereby not fully achieving the objective of speedy procurement.”
“In 55 per cent of cases, deliveries were completed with delays ranging from one month to 18 months, and in the remaining 17 per cent of cases, delivery had not been completed up to December 2023, whereas as per the extended timeline for placement of supply orders by August 2021, all deliveries should have been completed by August 2022.”
The contracts included remote-control weapon systems, air defence missiles, anti-tank missiles, satellite downlink and recording systems, VSAT terminals, portable mobile terminals, secure army mobile systems, all-terrain vehicles, high mobility reconnaissance vehicles, radars, loiter ammunition, drones, counter drone systems, high endurance UAVs, ballistic helmets, navigation systems, and simulation systems.
By way of explanation to the national auditor’s probing queries, the defence ministry stated in October 2023 that “earlier dependence on foreign vendors was significant and, in case of the Indian defence industry, which had only now started growing, most of the procurement for equipment was for the first time, and the slow progress was attributed to this.”
“The defence ministry also stated that the extension of timelines for conclusion of contracts and delivery thereof was granted, considering long-term Covid-19 impact on the supply chain.”