DRDO chief calls for indigenous defence production

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) Establishing a military industrial complex in India would enhance domestic defence production, DRDO chief Avinash Chander said Monday.

"A military industrial complex is needed in India with a transparent time bound approach and an in built methodology for embracing new projects," Chander said in a lecture at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) here.

"The Indian industry is now capable of taking up half of the DRDO's load in developing defence capabilities.

"The government should encourage its participation in developing India's defence capabilities by ensuring them of lucrative business, fair competition, a well laid out quality and inspection procedures, permission to use government infrastructure and by allowing them to exploit foreign markets for profit," the DRDO chief said.

Highlighting the achievements of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), he said India now has the capability in strategic weapons and command and control system.

"The missile systems developed by the DRDO have been a great success story. Over the years, the DRDO has successfully developed state-of-the-art radars, sonars, electronic warfare systems, electro optics and communications equipments," he said.

Chander said six mega missions in missiles, air dominance, modernisation of the army, network-centric capabilities and deep sea strikes are needed to achieve the self-reliance that is being aimed for.

The DRDO is India's premier defence research organisation, working towards enhancing self-reliance in defence systems and production.