Telecom Ministry wants defence PSU status for ITI
In an attempt to revive the ailing state run IT and telecom products manufacturer ITI, the Telecom Ministry has requested Defence Minister A K Antony to accord ‘Defence PSU’ status to the company.
Telecom Minister Milind Deora in his letter to the Defence Minister requested that ITI be included as a Defence PSU by utilising its existing infrastructure for the manufacture of electronic and mechanical systems.
The letter said that the company is capable of bridging the deficit of capacity in the order books of existing Defence PSUs by utilising its infrastructure for the manufacture of electronic and mechanical systems.
Deora pointed out that the Telecom Ministry is in the process of bridging the fund requirement of ITI for the procurement of new equipment and the upgrade of existing infrastructure. “This infusion of orders and money will go a long way in speeding up the process of revival of ITI,” he wrote.
Noting that the technology development wing of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is expected to share technologies for development by an external agency, the Telecom Minister said that ITI has the capability to enter Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreements for fabrication of the designs that are to be shared by the DRDO.
ITI has executed major defence projects in the past. In addition, the state-run PSU has designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned most of the encryption equipment used by the armed forces.
