New Delhi: Procurement for India’s defence forces is hampered by politics and the country must be “bold enough” to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector, said Indian Air Force Vice-Chief Air Marshal P K Barbora on Thursday.
"We have to take steps--we need to be bold enough to invite Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), more so into defence use," he told a seminar on ‘Energising Aviation Sector in India’.
Some global defence giants, such as BAE Systems, had proposed to start a joint venture with Mahindra Defence Systems with 49 per cent stakes but it did not get government's approval.
Barbora claimed political uncertainty hurts defence procurements. “The government clears something and the opposition says no. That impinges very badly on defence,” he said. "Private industry has to be evolved and given a market of their choosing and not our choosing, of course with certain guidelines."
He said bringing in private players was very important for the aviation sector as India was not even contributing one per cent to the world market in the aerospace industry.
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