The 19th August amendment to the Defence Procurement Procedure of 2013 extends the provision of exchange rate variation to Indian vendors under all the procurement categories of capital acquisition.

• Amit Cowshish
• August 31, 2015
• IDSA Comments

The 5th August amendment to the offset guidelines exemplifies how difficult it is to let go of unnecessary controls.

• Amit Cowshish
• August 27, 2015
• IDSA Comments

Recommendations that defence procurement be handled by the military brass, ministers stay out of defence deals, and an external procurement agency be set up to handle procurement and focus on indigenization are indeed extraordinary.

• Amit Cowshish
• July 23, 2015
• IDSA Comments

There are also grey areas to the extent that the professional and hierarchical relationship which the Consultants will have with regular IFS officers is yet to be clearly outlined.

• Gautam Sen
• July 06, 2015
• IDSA Comments

Converting the Services` HQs as departments of the government within the scope of Allocation of Business Rules, with responsibility to Parliament for obtaining defence appropriations, may be in the long-term interests of the country.

• Gautam Sen
• June 23, 2015
• IDSA Comments

MoD will have to make sure that no weapon system is purchased unless an arrangement is made for sustained supply of ammunition, not necessarily through the OFB.

• Amit Cowshish
• June 09, 2015
• IDSA Comments

MoD will have to make sure that no weapon system is purchased unless an arrangement is made for sustained supply of ammunition, not necessarily through the OFB.

• Amit Cowshish
• June 09, 2015
• IDSA Comments

It is time the MoD considered creating structures and organizations that are not an intrinsic part of the ministerial set up to implement the production and procurement policies once these are formulated by the ministry.

• Amit Cowshish
• May 11, 2015
• IDSA Comments

Policymakers need to ask themselves ‘What Really Makes Offsets Tick?’ in order to develop an objective framework based on sound principles repeatedly noticed in the offset regulations of ‘The Smarter Lot’ of countries and in the process avoid committing the seven ‘original sins’ that a poorly-designed offset policy may entail.

• Sandeep Verma
• April 17, 2015
• IDSA Comments

MoD will do well to set up a crack team of experts from all fields to work out the terms of the proposed IGA keeping in view the larger picture of what happens after these 36 aircraft are inducted.

• Amit Cowshish
• April 15, 2015
• IDSA Comments

A loosely articulated idea of making India a defence manufacturing hub cannot work unless it is backed by a comprehensive blueprint, efficient procedures, meticulous implementation, trained and responsive manpower, continuous monitoring and quick decision-making.

• Amit Cowshish
• April 08, 2015
• IDSA Comments

The bad news in this year’s defence budget is that it does not recognise that things are not going in the right direction but only the beaten track. And the poor track record in fully utilising the resources allocated for ‘Modernisation’ is the worse news.

• Vinay Kaushal
• March 02, 2015
• IDSA Comments

One area where the 2015-16 defence budget is likely to hurt the most is in capital acquisition, which has already been under acute pressure in recent years due to the overwhelming share of the ‘committed liabilities’ arising out of contracts already signed

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• March 02, 2015
• Issue Brief

It is a fairly simple exercise to estimate what the defence budget will be given available indicators. My assessment is that the Budget Estimate for defence is likely to be around Rs. 250,000 crore, with 105,000 crore for Capital Expenditure and 145,000 Crore for Revenue Expenditure.

• Vinay Kaushal
• February 27, 2015
• IDSA Comments

There is an urgent need to conceptualise a policy framework as to what Make-in-India implies so far as defence production is concerned and how it is different from the existing policy framework.

• Amit Cowshish
• February 18, 2015
• IDSA Comments

The ‘Make in India’ drive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers a way of improving the country’s self-reliance in defence production. But for the MII to succeed in the defence manufacturing sector, the government needs to address some legacy issues.

• Laxman Kumar Behera
• February 05, 2015
• Policy Brief

If reports about the diversion of INR 13,000 crore from the capital segment of the defence budget to the revenue heads are true, it is an indication of the growing strain on the revenue budget.

• Amit Cowshish
• January 23, 2015
• IDSA Comments

Of Agents and Agency Commission in Defence

• Amit Cowshish
• December 31, 2014
• IDSA Comments

It is difficult to visualise how the Russian offer to make LUH in India could be actualised unless the government invokes ‘strategic considerations’ for making it in India or signs an inter-governmental agreement for that purpose.

• Amit Cowshish
• December 15, 2014
• IDSA Comments

It is necessary to evolve a long term strategy keeping in mind all the aircraft acquisition programmes, review the factors that contribute to determining the right numbers and begin the process of building a long term partnership with the private industry.

• Vinay Kaushal
• December 03, 2014
• Policy Brief