MoD to fastrack delayed military projects: Official

New Delhi: In a major reform initiative to encourage domestic military manufacturing, Nirmala Sitharaman-led defence ministry is envisaging “deemed approvals” to proposals unduly delayed or that have overshot prescribed timelines due to bureaucratic logjams and other unjustified grounds.

Batting for the proposed changes, a top defence ministry source said, “After all, the wait for military products cannot be an endless one. The permissions could be taken up on a case-to-case basis”.

Specifically, the ministry is looking at applying the “deemed to be approved” principle if license-related permission has not been given for some reason be it by the Home Ministry, Telecom Ministry or the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

India, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), remained the world’s biggest arms importer over the past five years, increasing its share of global arms imports from 9.7 per cent in 2007–11 to 12.8 per cent in 2012–16.

The chief reason behind India’s growing military spend is the lack of a domestic arms industry that can cater to the military needs.

Ms Sitharaman is understood to be proactively trying to usher in such changes that will seek to bolster the self-reliance aspect in defence products manufacturing.

On Wednesday, Army chief-general Bipin Rawat also pitched for a strongindigenous domestic defence industry and underscored the importance of the private sector joining hands with the government.