Aggressive underbidding by defence industry players is hindering the progress of major defence projects, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman and Secretary of the Department of Defence R&D Samir V. Kamat observed recently.
Speaking to a media house on the sidelines of the unveiling of Advanced Armoured Platforms (Tracked and Wheeled), designed and developed by Vehicles Research & Development Establishment, the DRDO chief, without naming any particular project, pointed out that there were delays to some projects due to low bidding by private industry players, and called for "genuine" commitment from industries to complete the projects.
The Development-cum-Production Partner (DcPP) model, launched by DRDO, involving the selection of industry partners early in the development cycle, has worked well, and in the past few years, as many as 30 projects were completed.
Under the DcPP model, DRDO picks a suitable industry partner early through a competitive process, involving them in both development and production. The intent is for the same partner to contribute to shaping the product, scale it up, and eventually handle manufacturing along with life-cycle support.
He said DRDO is working on certain issues to make this model more effective to achieve the government's vision of self-reliance in defence.
Acknowledging that in order to boost indigenous defence development, certain structural issues remain to be addressed, he expressed confidence that they will come out with a "well-established mechanism, which is fair, transparent and will enable quick development."
He hailed the Advanced Armoured Platforms, which were manufactured by two industry partners Tata Advanced Systems Limited and Bharat Forge Limited, supported by many MSMEs, as an example of how this model is working well.